


Letters to Monsters

by beccadbuss



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Genderfluid Character, M/M, Reincarnation, Slow Burn, found family of chakra monsters, retelling legends and literature in a naruto setting, shinobi need a bonk to tell them that they're being stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:01:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25729378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beccadbuss/pseuds/beccadbuss
Summary: After succumbing to a bout of cancer, you—a former Literature Professor who had never touched a volume of manga in their first life—wakes up as a baby in the Warring Clans Era. At first, you seem to live an unassuming life as a poor child from a remote farming village. But, war catches up to you and you are forced to flee your destroyed village. Through manners and an act of selfless kindness, you end up in the care of one, grumpy Nine Tailed Fox—and by extension, the entire Bijuu family. From there, everything changes.
Relationships: Bijuu | Tailed Beasts & Original Character, Original Character/Original Hatake Character, Senju Hashirama/Uzumaki Mito, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 206
Kudos: 726
Collections: Japanese Approved, Not to be misplaced, Reborn the Sage, Stupid Fuking Good Fics





	1. Our Hero Enters a Monster’s Hall, Uninvited

Opening my eyes, I was greeted with a sight of warm colors and wood-tones. Wriggling around in whatever surface I was lying on, sensation slowly drifted back into my limbs. Sitting up, I looked around at the expanse of black. “ _Odd,”_ I thought, _“This is not what I would have expected the afterlife to look like.”_

With senses slowly returning to my body, I looked around to see a simple, single room house. A kind looking old woman was sitting by hearth, tending the fire. Several little boys puttered around the center of the house, laughing and playing. 

“Hello, little one. How nice of you to join us today,” a gentle voice cooed overhead. Looking up, I saw a woman dressed in a worn out kimono meeting my gaze. The next thing I knew, I was gently getting picked up, only to be swaddled up in warm cloth. 

“Mama,” one of the little boys quietly said, “Sen looks so small and tiny.”

“Yes,” the woman whispered, cupping my small face with her palm. “My little Sen.”

“When can I play with Sen?” the other boy chirped.

“I’m sure Sen wants to play with you as soon as possible, Hiro.” The woman said. 

Joy quietly bubbled in my chest, and I laughed. The three clearly didn’t expect it as their eyebrows quickly shot up. _I was alive,_ I told myself, _I was alive and gone from that horrible, horrible hospital, I was not stuck to any of those tubes anymore._

 _I had a second chance at life._ I thought, as I reached out, and held my mother with my small fingers. _I won’t squander this._ I resolved, _I will live my life to the fullest._

* * *

As the autumn nights became longer, and when the frigid cold climbed down from the mountains, the children of my village became restless. The adults were preoccupied with gathering the last crops of the harvest season, so the children were left largely unoccupied. And, when children became bored, their cuteness would wane in favor for their loud, unfiltered noise. 

It had been a spur of the moment decision. I was the only six year old in the village, and the racket that the children were starting could be heard all over the valley. Father brought home mushrooms and several partridges for me to clean and prepare for storage from his foraging through the forest, and mother left me a heap of hemp and straw to make into new sandals and coats for the winter—and the racket kept on distracting me from work. So, at my wits end, I called out to the children. 

In a minute, they converged to the enagawa where I was sitting, all jostling about and practically vibrating with energy. “Children,” I had told them, “if you’re good, I’ll tell you a story you’ve never heard before.” Excited, the children all sat down around the enagawa, and I began talking. 

“In the cold and frigid north, a certain daimyo built a great hall. The hall’s light and noise was so great that it disturbed a horrible monster that slept in the ice and snow.” With the starting line, I had the children hooked. “It was a horrid monster, wet from the swamps it lived from and green like rotting food and moss. It had teeth like daggers, and large, unblinking eyes that glowed in the dark.” As I said this, I mimed the movements of the monster, and the children instantly blanched. 

“The monster was so angry that he terrorized the daimyo’s land through killing his crops, livestock and citizens…” To the part about killing of livestock and ruining crops, the children gasped. This was, after all, one of the most cruel things one could do to the peasants. 

“Then, a valiant hero heard of the daimyo’s plight and visited the great hall to swear that he would vanquish the monster.” A round of cheers and whoops echoed from the children. “So, the hero decided to trick the monster.”

Lowering my voice, I continued. “Under the cover of night, the hero pretended to fall asleep in the hall to wait for the monster’s arrival.” A gasp tricked out from the entranced crowd. “Then, as the monster slowly padded into the hall, and approached the hearth where the hero was sleeping…” 

Suddenly, I jumped up from my sitting position and shouted: “BAM! The hero grabbed his sword and leaped up from where he was lying down and felled the beast in one strike.” A cheer erupted from the children. 

“But the hero did not count that the monster…” I trailed off, “Would have a mother.” As quick as the happiness erupted, the clamour dissipated. “But, that’s all for today so go home before twilight swallows the valley in darkness.” 

“But Nee-chan!” One of the children exclaimed. “What about the monster’s mother?” 

“Yeah Nee-chan!” Another said, “What about the hero?” 

“Well,” I cut them off. “Then you’ll have to play quietly and be good if you want to hear the rest of the story tomorrow.” With that, I stood up, ruffled my worn robe and entered the house. The village would finally have some peace and quiet. 

“Hello,” I said, as my attention shifted from thatching a new coat into the cluster of children sitting at the foot of my house’s enagawa. 

“Ne, Sen-chan…” one of them trailed off. “Could you continue telling us the story you told us yesterday?”

I smiled, cleared my throat, and continued. 

* * *

My village was a small one, nestled in the heart of a green valley. My second childhood was filled with running through the edge of the forest, learning how to read and write and speak again, and sitting by grandmother's hearth. I was happy. But, as I had learned from my last life, good things always came to an end. 

That fateful day happened just a week after my fifth birthday. I wrapped my straw sandals around my bare feet, and hollered to my grandmother that I would be out playing with the other children in the farm. Stepping out, I felt the first sweet winds of spring rush through the forest. Breathing in, I ran out into the village proper. 

Speeding through the dirt streets, I knew where my little brothers were playing. Just as I rounded the main square, I could see Toshi and Hiro right outside the village gate. That was when a loud explosion detonated in the distance. In an instant, the town got flooded in a state of panic. Parents were shouting for their children, livestock was thrashing against their restraints, and children were sobbing—clutching to whatever stable object they could hold on to. 

I remember shouting my older brother’s names at the top of my lungs. But the din of the sudden mania flooded out my calls to my siblings. The sound of steel striking against steel was suddenly thrown into the overhead sound—blurs of indigo and red lacquer filled my periphery. There was a sound of someone gasping right behind me. 

Whipping my head around to see the source of the sound, I could only see the tip of a sword protruding out of a man’s back. With a squelch, the sword was promptly pulled out of its point of entry. The man, now the color of paper, fell to expose the sword’s wielder. He was a regal and imposing figure, clad in the deepest indigo I had ever seen. His hair was an untamed explosion, and his eyes were the color of freshly drawn blood. 

He only said one word to me, “Run.”

In an instant, I understood what it had felt like to be prey. Like one of those rabbits Oji-san always brought home, trussed by their legs. “Was this what they felt before Oji-san shot them with an arrow?” I asked myself. Before I knew it, my legs had broken into the fastest sprint my tiny body could muster. 

I ran through the gate, only stopping for a second to look for my little brothers. They were long gone. I ran into the forest, leaping over gnarled bark and crumbling rock. I ran and ran, far enough to stop hearing the din of death and war. The sun was gently being tucked away behind the mountains when my adrenaline left me, and I finally stumbled to a stop. 

Every muscle in my little body was screaming in pain. My sandals had long since worn themselves out, and as I looked down at my feet, I could see bits of dirt and rock lodged in my skin. There were nicks and small cuts peppered around my legs. My old clothes were soaked in sweat. Trembling, I rested against the nearest tree I could prop myself against. 

_I was free,_ I told myself. _But what about Obaa-san? What about Hiro-aniki? What about Okaa-san? Otou-san? I may be free, but now I am alone._

* * *

The months and days blurred together after my escape into the forest. It was a good thing that Outo-san decided to teach us all how to hunt and to forage. I would not have been able to survive on my own otherwise. Resolved to survive, the first thing I did was I looked for water. The resulting trek up the mountain was long and arduous, but it was well worth the aches and pains when I finally reached the spring. 

_Great,_ I thought. _Now that I won’t die of thirst, I have to avoid dying of hunger._ Food was both easier and harder to come by than water. For one thing, wild mountain boars presented the ever-present possibility that I would get gored to death, so I decided that mushrooms would be my main source of protein. 

Occasionally, I would see a lone fish or two swimming in the stream. The spring fed into a river that ran all the way down to my valley, so I would whittle down a long stick to make an improvised spear. The clear water made for a significantly easier catch. 

Rabbits and squirrels, on the other hand, were extremely hard to come by. Not that they were absent from the forest, but because someone would always poach my prey before I could check my traps. The trap would be sprung, there would be evidence of a struggle, but there would never be anything left for me.

One night, while I was roasting a fish over an open fire, I heard the bushes rustling. Quelling my initial shock and anticipation, I reached over to my makeshift spear and readied myself for a fight. Not soon after, a fox emerged from the bushes, carrying a rabbit whose feet were tied up in one of my hemp traps. 

“Huh,” I said to myself. “So that’s where my prey ended up.”

To my surprise, the fox growled at my absentminded comment, seemingly offended to what I muttered to myself. _This must be one smart fox,_ I thought. The fox then swished it’s tail and sat down at the edge of the clearing. It was just close enough for my bonfire to shine a light on the reddest fur I had ever seen on a fox. I could feel a pair of squinted, gleaming eyes tracking my movement. 

_That fox seems a little bit too smart,_ I whispered under my breath. To which the fox delightfully yipped in response. Startled by the beginning of the conversation we seemed to share. The thought crossed my mind that: this might be some sort of animal guardian the forest has. I did several seconds worth of mental gymnastics after that. 

_The foxes that Outo-san brought home would always have ruddy-brown coats. Never, in my life have I seen a fox with that blood-red fur. It seems smart, and it seems to understand me… And if it’s been catching the rabbits and squirrels in my traps… Oh dear._ I suddenly realized. 

Clearing my throat, I approached the fox and spoke. “I am sorry for asking, but do you happen to be the master of this land?” The fox yipped in approval, nodding its head and jostling the rabbit long since dead in its mouth. 

With wide eyes, I continued my line of questioning. “Oh dear,” I spoke, “Does this mean I’ve intruded on your land?” To which the fox gave another yip, this time laced with a soft growl. 

Remembering what the fate of uncourteous guests were in my past life’s fairy tails, I gulped down my fear, stood up and bowed. “I am very, very sorry for intruding on your land by living uninvited.” Momentarily breaking my line of sight with the ground, I shot the fox a quick glance to see it’s face, plastered with surprise. “My village was destroyed by war, and I had to run away… But if you allow me to be a tenant on this land I would be forever grateful.” 

The fox remained silent, it’s eyes were almost as wide as mine. Clearing my throat, I continued. “I could pay you with the food I catch,” I said as I walked over to pick up one of the fish that was skewered by the fire. Wrapping it in a leaf, I slowly paced to where the fox was sitting and gingerly placed the roasted fish on the ground. “It’s not much, but it’s all I have.” 

The fox still sat in silence. Gently, it placed down the rabbit that it was holding in its mouth and responded. “You know…” it spoke. “In my many years of living, I’ve never met a human that was smart enough to have manners.” 

Surprised with the drawl in the fox’s voice, I looked up from where I was bowing, and I saw that the fox had an expression that mirrored my own. “Ummm…” I eloquently fumbled, “May I ask what your name is fox-san?” 

Ruffling his coat, the fox seemed to primp himself up to look more presentable. With a proud yip, he answered me. “My name…” The fox spoke with a renewed sense of authority, “Is Inari.” 

“Well, Inari-sama.” I declared, while extending a hand to him, “It is a pleasure to meet you.” 

Skeptically, Inari eyed my outstretched hand before meeting me before reaching out his paw in response. The sheer surrealness of the situation nearly made me trip. I was shaking hands—or rather, paws—with a fox. Who, like me, was stunned at the civility of the whole interaction. 

* * *

Needless to say, we became fast friends. Inari would come over every so often to chat and to eat together. Sometimes, he would bring his wife along. She was a beautiful vixen, who donned a pelt that had the color of candied oranges: light and cheerful. They would take me to the depths of the forest to show me where all the fruit bearing trees were. In return, I would prepare whatever catch I would happen upon when they visited. They specifically liked my rabbit stew. 

Over one dinner, Inari absentmindedly told me, “Do not go into the heart of the forest, my friend.” Curious, I asked why. To that, the bonfire’s shadows danced across his face. “A being much older, and much more powerful sleeps there. In truth, I am but a master of this forest in name, the being that sleeps there is the true master of this land” Inari said as he pawed the back of his head sheepishly. 

“So,” Inari said as he leveled his gaze at me—to address the gravity of what he was going to say—”Never, ever go past the boundary of old oak trees if you want to stay alive.” 

Slowly but surely, the season changed and the brown leaves that formed my path out of my burning village and into the forest got blanketed with snow—and soon, the dew of spring. The elements were tough, but I was tougher. _I have to survive_ , I told myself, over and over. There were some times where the thought of returning to my valley would cross my mind. But, as spring lapsed into summer, I could see fires growing ever more frequent during the night. _War was still down there,_ I thought, as I surveyed my valley from a mountain pass. 

Still, I lived in relative peace—foraging through the undergrowth and occasionally cooking for a budding family of foxes (since Inari and his partner, Rikiko, brought in new additions to the family through a litter of healthy, russet kits.) 

However, all good things eventually came screeching to an end on one fateful summer morning. I was just re-thatching the roof of my slipshod tent, when I saw Inari limping into my campsite only to stagger and drop like a dead fly. I dropped the bushel of straw I was holding, and rushed to where my friend collapsed. Running my hand through his fur, I felt the sticky heat of blood and an open wound. 

Before I could cradle him to the river to wash his wounds, Inari managed to gasp out. “Run, friend.” He coughed for a moment, and continued on. “War has finally entered into our forest.”

Gently lifting Inari up, all my muscles were tense as I mustered the strength to reply. “What happened to you, Inari?” 

He wheezed, “Shinobi happened, my friend. One of their ugly metal weapons managed to elude it’s target and hit me instead.” 

“Wait a minute,” I whispered softly, “I have some herbs that I found.” Standing up, I was racking my brain to remember the poultice Obaa-chan taught me so many years ago. 

“Leave this forest,” Inari barked, “Leave me, so that you may live.” 

Whipping my head back to him, I answered, with resolute eyes and a set jaw. “Never. I am never leaving you. I already fled from one family of mine, I couldn’t live with myself if I failed my family twice.” 

Grabbing an old bag of supplies and provisions, along with my makeshift spear, I scooped Inari up, and ran. Yet again, I found myself running through the forest. Now, I ran faster and further, I was not bothered by the bramble sticking to my thighs, and the stones that scraped my feet. In the distance, I heard that horrid sound of metal meeting metal. The ringing of impending death. 

As the trees grew denser, and the canopy grew darker, I realized that I was running to the heart of the forest. There, just like Inari once told me, stood a row of old oak trees that stretched to the left and the right. In the darkness of the forest, I couldn’t tell where the line of trees started and ended. They seemed to go on forever. 

_If there is one place where Inari can be safe_ , I thought, _It would be with the true master of the forest. At this point, the possibility of helping Inari outweighs the risk of dying_ . Inari seemed to shrivel up in my grasp. His breathing grew more erratic, and more labored. _There was no time to waste._

Passing the threshold of oak was easy. But, as I soon discovered, breathing would be much harder. The air suddenly became cloying, seemingly wringing my lungs of oxygen. At the same time, the air seemed to thin out, rendering me gasping for breath. If this is what the edge of the forest’s heart is like, what more would the true center of the forest feel like?

Soldiering on, I continued my trek with limbs that felt like lead. The air even seemed to grow warmer as I approached the center of the forest. I could tell that the canopy was at its densest when everything seemed to be momentarily swallowed by darkness. Suddenly, the darkness dissipated to reveal a clearing. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t really a clearing. It was more like a crater that had been violently introduced to what used to be a clearing. 

The grass ended where the ground became a cliffside. As far as I could tell, the drop was about a good several meters. The crater seemed to fill the distance of an Olympic stadium. Distracted by the sheer spectacle of it, I failed to notice the mass of glaring, orange fur in the center of the crater that seemed to be waking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a note regarding the ages of the characters:   
> Sen - 4


	2. Our Hero Retells Epics, and Gains a New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we find our hero beseeching a being, much older and more powerful (but not as wise) for help. In the process, a revelation is uncovered, several grilled fish are consumed and a friend is made.

A low rumble shook the ground of the clearing. Shaken out of my reverie, I finally saw the hill-sized mound of fur curled in the middle of the clearing. Seemingly sensing my sudden intrusion into the clearing, the forest master began to move, uncurling itself from its sleeping position. At first, all I could see was this deep, vermillion tinted orange moving—as it stood, I could slowly make out its features. 

It had claws that were a deep, obsidian color. The tips of those said claws looked like they were filed to a mean edge. Soft ears perked up from the tip of the mound of fur, betraying the beast’s intimidating aura. _Cute_ , I thought to myself. All that changed when I saw its eyes. 

Out of the deep reds and oranges of the beast’s coat, shone two piercing, yellow eyes. They were almost feline, with an unnerving luminescence to them as well as pupils that were pointed like daggers. What struck me the most was how pained those eyes looked. They were like blazing suns fueled by pain and malice. It hurt to look directly at them. 

“What are you doing here, little worm?” The beast snarled, baring a mouth full of white fangs. 

Gulping, I reminded myself that I was still an unwelcome guest who trespassed into forbidden territory. “Your grace,” I calmly started speaking. “I implore your goodwill to help my friend in need.” I said as I gestured to Inari, curled up in my hands. 

The beast eyed me with caution, with a subtle hint of surprise dancing behind his gaze. “Why would a human call themselves friends with a beast?” He spat. 

Stiffening, I replied with clear conviction. “Because... He is, in fact, my friend.” 

The best let out a hearty laugh, shaking out some leaves from their branches. “How did you manage to con Inari to make you his ‘friend’?” He practically hissed out the word ‘friend’ like it was a curse. 

“Forgive my impoliteness, your grace, but I did not con Inari to do anything.” To that, the beast’s head quirked to the side. “We reached an understanding. He would provide me a place to live and, in return, I would give him and his family an occasional dinner.” 

For a minute, the fox looked a little shocked. It looked genuinely confused at the thought of Inari and I reaching a compromise. Clearing my throat, I gently asked again as I held Inari out to where he was sitting. 

“Your grace, I know that I have nothing of worth to offer a being as powerful as yourself. But, if you could take my supplies and provisions of food as a payment for your services,” I said as I took off the wrap of food slung around my shoulder. “Could you please then heal my friend?” 

In a flash, the beast appeared in front of me, sitting to its full height. “What happened to Inari?” It growled. 

“Shinobi happened, Sir.” 

For the second time today, it showed me its fangs as well as its venom. “Of, fucking, course. Shinobi always manage to royally fuck everything up,” he said as he outstretched one paw, gingerly taking Inari from my clutch with the tip of one of his nails. 

It moved in one fluid motion into a cross-legged position in the forest clearing. Gently, he held his paws over Inari’s crippled figure. The thick air of malice and hate dissipated for a minute to fill the clearing with a hazy, blue, energy. A _lightness filled the air now. It was the pure intention to help_ , I realized after I saw the blue energy coalescing to fill the gaps of Inari’s wounds. _The lightness in the air was the beast’s kindness. The blue energy was the beast's wishes for Inari to heal given form._

After momentarily shimmering, the energy that pooled around Inari’s body dissipated. The wounds were gone as if nothing had even knicked Inari’s coat. All that was there was Inari’s shining, orange fur. I could feel the tension leaving my body, as my feet promptly failed me and buckled to the clearing floor. I felt like I intruded on something sacred, and something inherently private. _In retrospect, all of what I was doing these days seemed to be intruding on other people’s lives._

Inari stirred, and slowly opened his eyes. Registering who was in front of him, Inari gave a loud yelp and scrambled to a seated position. “Kurama-dono,” he all but squeaked while gazing slack eyed at the bigger, significantly more intimidating fox who was now slouched over him. “Am I dead?” 

Huffing, the edges of Kurama’s mouth drifted upwards into a sly smirk. “No you idiot. Your 'tenant' brought you here.” 

Inari snapped his neck over to where I keeled over. “S-s—Sen?” His voice was on the verge of cracking. He looked back at Kurama, who was now amusingly eyeing Inari going through a battery of mental calisthenics. After a solid half-minute of stewing, Inari was shaken out of his reverie and proceeded to crash into my torso. 

“Sen you idiot!” Inari barked. “I told you to leave me and run! What would have happened if those shinobi found you?” Looking down at the fox, I could see his face contorted in frustration. 

“I couldn’t afford to lose the only family I have left, Inari.” I whispered as I ran my fingers through his, now complete, coat of fur. 

In an instant, the frustration on Inari’s face all but disappeared, and Inari promptly dissolved into tears as he buried his face in my dirty robes. “Oh you lovable idiot.” Inari blubbered, “Damn you for risking your life a hundred times over… I love you so, so much.” I couldn’t help but cry to that. 

After a dedicated several minutes of sobbing into each other, I realized that we weren’t the only ones in the clearing. Kurama was still sitting where he had healed Inari, but now his face was scrunched up. His eyebrows were furrowed, his mouth looked like a crooked line, and his nose was twitching. It didn’t look like he was frustrated per se, but it looked like he was genuinely confused at what was going on. 

Inari seemed to catch on to what I was looking at, and wiped the last of his tears on my robe before facing Kurama. “Kurama-dono,” he said as he lowered his forehead to the ground. “I know, when you chose me to guard the forest, you told me not to wake you at any cost. Unless I wanted my head be detached from my body. But, please—forgive my insolence of ordering you around. Punish me instead of Sen.”

Kurama was visibly taken aback by Inari’s request. “Hmf. Don’t get your tail tied in a knot, kit.” To that, Inari’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “I wouldn’t want to ruin someone I just healed.” 

Leaning back, Kurama never broke his inquisitive stare in my direction. “But, what I really want to know is how you met…” He said as he gestured in my general direction. “And not…” As he spoke, he mimed digging his claws into something as well as snapping his jaw shut while baring his fangs. 

Blanching, I realized that Kurama was insinuating that Inari’s knee jerk reaction when seeing me would have been violently attacking me. _Why hadn’t he?_ I asked myself. But, Inari stood on his hind legs with a newfound fervour, “Kurama-dono,” He began, “I was about to, but I had a rabbit in my mouth, so I couldn’t exactly bite Sen’s throat out.” 

Not minding my wide eyes and raised eyebrows, Inari continued on. “I believe that Sen is different from the humans that killed my parents. I know when you met me as a kit, I said that I hated all humans, and that I believed that humans and us foxes could never get along. But, Sen has treated me with courtesy and respect. Moreover, Sen treated me like an equal and a…” he said as he looked towards me. “A friend. Sen has treated me like a true friend.” 

Kurama did not have a response to that, neither did I. For a good moment, all I could hear was the rustling of the leaves. Kurama broke the silence in the end. “You can go,” He simply said, with curious eyes.

Keeping my wits about me, I stood up and picked my jaw up off the forest floor. After ruffling my dusty, mud stained robe, I gave a deep bow to Kurama, and walked out of the clearing.   
  


The forest changed after that fateful day. It wasn’t as dark anymore, there were signs of new life and signs of new growth everywhere. For the first time in my whole life, I saw a herd of deer. Startled, I remembered that none of the village huntsmen ever saw deer during their trips into the mountains. They had said that all the deer in the entire mountain pass had left our land. One day, when I happened to near the ring of old oaks, I could hear cicadas thrumming in the heart of the forest. The noise of their rattling filled the former void of silence. It was comforting knowing that the miasma of the heart of the forest dissipated—just a little bit, so as to let life in again. 

After a full month, Inari and his pack returned. Inari’s wife, Retsuko and all her four kits all but jumped on me, bawling their eyes out while thanking me profusely. When the crying quieted a little, I told them that there was nothing to thank, because that’s what friends did for each other. Needless to say, there was even more tears and more contented head scratches after that. 

* * *

“So,” I said as I handed Momoko, one of Inari’s kits, a grilled fish over dinner. “Have you seen the herd of wild boar passing by the bamboo grove yet?” 

“Yes!” Inari yipped as he took a bite out of his fish skewer. “They seem very content in that neck of the woods.” 

“Good.” I nodded as I made a mental note not to harvest all of the bamboo shoots that I found. 

As we absentmindedly chatted into the night, I noticed a lingering presence that skirted around the edges of the spring’s clearing. It seemed hesitant to intrude, but at the same time, I could feel its restless energy. It must have been waiting there for quite some time I thought. 

Picking up a fish skewer from beside the bonfire, I stretched out my hand and offered the grilled fish to whatever was skittish in the darkness. “Don’t worry,” I called out, “If you need food, you can have some. You can join us by the fire, I imagine it isn’t comfortable sitting in the bramble all night long.” 

The rustling bushes remained silent for a moment, before they parted to reveal a significantly smaller, and markedly cautious looking, Kurama. No matter how much Kurama shrank his form, it was still jarring to see him coming close. His fur was still orange, bordering vermillion. His nails were still black, and filed to a mean point. But his eyes changed. His eyes looked clouded, like he had been lost in thought for a long time. 

It took me a minute, but the thought dawned on me that—maybe—I was being a little bit rude to the true master of the forest. So, I hurriedly stood up from the log bench where I was sitting. Realizing who I was talking to, Inari, Retsuko and their kits fumbled around and took deep bows. 

“No, no,” Kurama said breaking the awkward silence that hung in the air. “I am a guest here, so… May I take that fish?” 

“Yes you may,” I replied. 

Kurama quietly padded over to where I was standing, and sniffed the grilled fish. He curiously eyed it for a moment, before standing on his hind legs to gingerly take the skewer with his front paws. He walked over to the seat across me, paying no mind to the scuttling of Inari’s kits making room for him on the log, and sat down. 

The situation still was unbearably awkward. Kurama looked like he didn’t know what to do with the fish. His face was still scrunched up in the same way it was in the clearing a month ago. He was wrestling with something in his head. 

“I can’t figure you out.” He finally declared, looking at me with sharp eyes. “I keep on trying to think of your ulterior motive, but I can’t seem to find it.” 

Thinking over my answer, I began to speak but Kurama cut me off. “You know, I can tell when someone lies,” He said, leveling his gaze at me. “I am a being of pure chakra, and I am well acquainted with the feeling of animosity. Know that I am judging the truth behind your words.” He finished his little speil with sitting a little bit straighter. _It looks like he practiced this._

“Well,” I cleared my throat, “Forgive my impertinence, Kurama-dono. But I think you might have a hard time finding something that doesn’t exist.”

Kurama tilted his head in confusion, about to talk, but I continued on. “What I mean is, I have no ulterior motive. I simply wish to live quietly and peacefully in this forest. Hosting the occasional dinner and such.” 

“That doesn't make sense.” Kurama spoke, seemingly speaking to the air. “Humans always have malice. They always seek to destroy things. They always act selfishly,” He spat before pointing a finger at me. “But you… I can’t feel any of those emotions from you at all. So what gives?” 

Humming and looking into the night sky, I replied. “Humans are confusing beings, Kurama-dono. We have the capacity for great love, but at the same extent, we are capable of great hate as well,” I said as I put my hand over my heart. “You know, that reminds me of a story I once read…” I absentmindedly whispered when Yatsuko, one of Inari’s kits, perked up. 

“Sen-chan, are you gonna tell us another one of your stories?” Yatsuko excitedly yipped while Retsuko and Inari both clapped their paws over their son’s mouth. 

“You’re a storyteller, huh?” Kurama said, taking a bite out of the grilled fish he was holding. “Go on, then. Tell us that story.” His eyes were still appraising me as shadows danced across his face. 

_Sen, you idiot. You really need to control yourself. One of these days, mentioning a story could kill you,_ I scolded myself. _Well,_ I sighed. _Too late to back out now. If I’m going to retell this, I have to do Homer justice._

“In a far off land, a war was stirring.” Kurama’s eyes perked up at the mention of war. “A beautiful woman was promised to be wed to a king of a warrior city-state. But, the gods of the land intervened. A prince of a neighboring country was enthralled by this woman’s beauty, so he spirited her away across the sea and into the walls of his city.” I stopped for a moment to survey the foxes’ reactions. They were all rapt with attention. _Good_

“The warrior king was outraged. He summoned all his allies and fellow countrymen and held a war council. Here, he amassed an army to sail over the ocean to take back his bride. Among the army, there was a formidable warrior who had been blessed invincibility. No spear could wound him, no sword could stab him and no arrow could pierce him.

“His mother, you see, was a goddess. When our champion was a baby, his mother took him to one of the underworld’s many rivers. She held him by his heel, and plunged him into the river. From this, no weapon could scratch his body—save for the heel that his mother was holding. From there we begin our story.” 

“Huh,” Kurama said with an irritated edge to his voice. “So the champion sacks a town. But in retribution, a god sends a plague down to spite the champion, and then the army commander gets mad at the champion for being a bullheaded idiot? Then puts his best fighter out of commission? Right before they start their campaign?”

“Yes,” I replied, exasperated. “Will you let me continue?” 

“Oh, sorry. Yes, yes, please go on.” 

“So,” Kurama cuts the story off again. “All of the gods aren’t really doing anything but meddle with the side of the war they like more? Why are they such assholes?” Kurama asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“These gods are a little bit different from the gods that you are probably used to. These gods are reflections of humanity rather than beings completely detached from it.” 

Retsuko looks at her kits with grave worry etched on her face. “Kits, you must never, ever use that kind of language in civilized company.” Inari nods in the background. 

“Damn,” Kurama whispers to Kentaro—another one of Inari’s kits—who was listening to the battle scene with wide eyed fascination. “That psycho who wounded a god sounds crazy. I can respect that.” 

“Yeah,” Kentaro manages to breathe out. 

“I like this general that serves the walled city. If I were his mother, I would be very proud of him,” Retsuko spoke to no one in particular. 

Inari leaned to his wife, and replied. “I do not know about that, my love. I have this itching feeling that something bad will happen to him.” 

“Dontputonthechampion’sarmour.Dontputonthechampion’sarmour.Dontputonthechampion’sarmour,” Michiko—the last of Inari’s kits—murmurs, digging her claws into her father’s outstretched paw. 

For the second time that night, Inari leans to his wife and whispers, “My love. I just can’t shake off the feeling. I just know something bad will happen.” 

Kurama winces when the loyal general vanquishes the champion's partner in battle. _Why would that dumbass do that,_ Kurama asks himself. _Why would he think that he could end the war. Now the champion will become as rabid as Shukaku when someone pisses on his sand._ _Scratch that,_ Kurama thinks. _The champion will become as feral as Matatabi when someone steps on her tail. Yeah, that’s a better comparison. Much more razed land when that happens._

“Pleasesurvive.Pleasesurvive.Pleasesurvive.Pleasesurvive,” Retsuko mutters, digging her claws in Inari’s vacant paw. 

“See dear,” Inari speaks through the pain. “I told you something bad would happen to the loyal general. The champion already defeated the river spirit...Just...Just get ready for the worst.”

Kurama breathes out. He was speechless at Sen recounting the harrowing battle between the enraged champion and the loyal general. The thought crossed his mind that he knows how the champion feels. He knows the rage that surges after it’s been kept to fester for so long. He knows the hate and malice one could do. He knows the desolation of an atomized battlefield—the otherworldly silence that shrouds the scorched earth. 

He knows the pain of losing someone you loved more than the world itself. 

“At last, dawn finally rose to cast sorrowful light on the loyal general’s pyre. From the ashes, they took the loyal general’s bones back to his city that he loved so dearly. All of the voices in that walled city were wailing, his brothers, friends-in-arms were all mourning. They placed his bones in an ornate chest, shrouding them in dark, purple cloths. 

“They lowered the chest into a deep and hollow grave, and piled a cope of stones over the heaped barrow. They placed lookouts around the grave to wait if the champion’s forces would betray the hasty truce they set up. Once they heaped the mound, they trudged back to their walled city and had a splendid funeral feast in the loyal general’s honor. 

“And so, the people buried their loyal general—the breaker of horses.”

The fire was almost fully spent, and the first lights of dawn broke over the mountain pass. I completely lost track of the time when I was swept up in retelling the story. Looking around, I could see the stunned faces of all of the foxes. There was a heavy silence cast over the clearing. 

“As I said earlier,” I spoke softly as I turned to look at Kurama. “It’s so strange, isn't it? Humans—all beings really—are capable of doing acts of great love and acts of great violence. In the same way that the throes of love stoke the flames of war, acts of great heroism and compassion can rise from the muck and gore of the battlefield. We are all capable of both good and bad. All we have to do is choose between the two.” 

Kurama, still in a daze, nods and stands on his four feet. “You have given me a lot to think about, Sen. Thank you,” He says as he turns and pads away into the shade of the forest. 

“Thank you as well,” Michiko whispers. “I have a feeling that this was an important story to hear.” She said as she quietly followed Kurama into the forest with Momoko following after her. Inari and Ritsuko gave me nods of acknowledgment, and picked up Yatsuko and Kentaro by the scruffs of their necks and carried them into the forest as well. 

I never imagined that I would feel like a teacher again in this life. I silently thought as I walked to the spring to drink some water. My throat was parched and my lips were dry. Dunking my head into the spring, I practically inhaled the water. Both the water and the epic quenched something inside me. _Fulfillment,_ I thought. _That’s what I am feeling right now, isn't it? Fulfillment._

Several nights later, at the start of twilight, just as I was lighting the evening fire, Kurama padded out of the shrubbery again. His eyes were clearer than the last time I saw him. It looked like an internal question was answered. It looked like he had achieved a realization of sorts. 

“Ryo for your thoughts?” I said as I struck my little piece of flint against a riverstone. 

“This will probably be easier,” Kurama replied, placing his hands together like he was starting a prayer. Taking a deep breath in, he exhaled a gentle stream of flame as bright and orange as his fur. The bundle of wood lit up immediately, and he took a seat on one of the logs around the campfire. 

“You can’t be older than a kit, huh…” He spoke to no one in particular. “You wanna learn how to do that?” He asked, addressing me. 

My age caught up to me, making my seven-year old body nod violently to the prospect of learning how to breathe fire. “But first, as a payment for my lesson… Could you… Tell me one of those stories again?” He asked, as he straightened out of his regular slouch to project some semblance of authority. “It has to be like the one you told a while back.” 

Sitting across from Kurama, I smiled. “Fine, for learning how to do whatever you did to light that fire, I’ll tell you a story.” Kurama’s eyes lit up in anticipation. Cupping my chin in my hand, I racked my brain to think what epic I would tell him next. A change of scenery would be good. Maybe a little stop by Uruk would be what Kurama was looking for. I sighed and took a sip from the tanned hide I kept my water in. I had a feeling that I would be talking until dawn. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hullo!!! thank you to everyone who took the time to read my work!!! i just want to wish you happiness and safety during these trying times. 
> 
> i had a lot of fun writing the audio-commentary for the epic. in a way, all the foxes' reactions were kind of my thought process reading the Iliad. kurama would definitely be a fan of the more action filled epics. to find out the other bijuu's tastes in lit, wait for the later chapters. (that's another thing that I feel Kishimoto didn't expand more on: the bijuu's personalities.) 
> 
> anywho, we get to meet very familiar (or, relatively familiar) faces in the next chapter, so stick around and stay tuned for more! (god I sound like one of those ads between disney shows) 
> 
> also p.s. i'll try to write up the next chapter asap, my summer classes are finally wrapping up, so the next chapter should come out at around the middle of next week? i don't know let's see. all i know is that i really am quite excited to teach sen how to handle chakra.


	3. Our Hero Learns and Teaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero is taught by two, wise beings (through their slightly irritated older brother). Our hero also received several invitations as well as the prospect of a journey around the continent. Lastly, our hero unknowingly changes the course of the Warring-Clans era through a telling a legend and some quick thinking.

Over the next months, Kurama came to my little clearing by the mountain spring much more often. We would usually sit around and talk freely. I would know when Kurama would feel bored by the look on his face—which was a very handy indicator that I needed to queue up a particularly riveting epic or legend. 

In time, those talks became walks through the forest. It became evident that Kurama knew a great deal of things about the forest. He knew where the berries were as well as where the fruit bearing trees were. He also occasionally pointed out which tree needed to be cut down on account of a sudden fungus taking hold of the root system, as well as which eddies in the river that hid the most fish. 

In return, I would tell him what each tree, shrub and bush meant in the language of plants. How the gods went to great lengths to eat apples that granted immortality. How hazel branches could be used to divine the secrets of the earth. How the ash was said to be the tree that stretched its branches through the universe. We were an odd pair, a human and a fox, but we had a solid friendship. 

As the third anniversary of my escape from my village drew closer and closer, Kurama decided that he would finally teach me how to interact with chakra. For this, he deemed that the clearing in the heart of the forest would be the best place to practice. When I passed the threshold of the old oak trees again, the miasma that hung in the air was gone. Instead, the place had practically thrummed with power. _It was truly the heart of the forest, complete with a heartbeat,_ I told myself as I followed Kurama as he padded along. 

When we reached the clearing, Kurama plopped down on the ground in a rather ungraceful reclining position. “Listen kit, in all honesty I’ll probably be a shit teacher.” 

_Well,_ I thought, _as they say, never look a gift horse—or in this case, a gift fox—in the mouth_. 

“It’s probably because I never listened to what the Sage was saying. But,” he said as he clapped his front paws together. “We can figure this out as we go along, isn’t that right kit?” 

Nodding my head, I expected him to take me through some sort of breathing practice or something. But, to my surprise, Kurama grew to his normal size. The next thing I knew, or rather—felt, was everything suddenly becoming dark and wet. It was like I was being wrapped in sandpaper, while being thrown around like a rag doll. Occasionally, I hit something that felt hard, and slightly cold. Finally, I was thrown out of the darkness back onto the forest floor clearing, coated in spit. 

I really had no response to what had happened, so I asked Kurama, “Kurama, what did you do to me?” 

“Oh, I just genty chewed you, a little,” He said with a distinct air of nonchalance. 

“Allright,” I said, still completely reeling from the experience. 

“You see,” he began while emphatically gesturing, “Humans have something called tenketsu. These little… What did the Sage call them again… Pathways! Chakra pathways! Now, you can use nature chakra to compensate for your tiny as fuck chakra core.” 

“Uhuh.”

“Under normal circumstances, I know that those shinobi train themselves to open their tenketsu partially to balance the interaction between your internal chakra with your surroundings. But I figured, why not make your tenketsu a smidge bigger to help the nature chakra go in! It would save you some trouble in the end.” 

“Uuuhhh,” I managed to eloquently say. “Kurama, why don’t you explain what chakra is first.” 

“Shit, I jumped to step two a little bit didn’t I,” He sheepishly said while using his front paw to scratch the back of his neck. It was adorable, but slightly disconcerting. He clearly did something to me. It was like I could feel all the pores in my body open. A warm haze seemed to appear as an airtight insulation wrap around my body. 

“Chakra, is… For all intents and purposes… Your life force. Chakra is like one of those water holding things you carry around. It’s good stuff. It nourishes your being. But if you use too much of it, you can die. And, it exists everywhere in the world. The smallest blade of grass has chakra, up to the oldest oak tree. The ambient chakra you feel in these things is appropriately called nature chakra,” Kurama huffed, clearly pleased with his explanation. 

“Your internal chakra is a little bit different, though. You see, humans got chakra because the sage had a batshit crazy mom that ate a fruit from a forbidden tree or something, from somewhere. Then she popped out two kids: The Sage and Uncle Hamura. Then, the sage made us, out of pure chakra. Then, the Sage and Uncle Hamura taught the humans how to use their chakra in something called… Nin… Ninshu,” He said as he squinted, trying to recall the finer details. 

“Ah shit, you should ask Isobu about this type of thing. He or Kokuo. They always listened to what the Sage said.” He mumbled before continuing his lecture. “Anywho, long story short, The Sage and Uncle Homura fought their batshit crazy mom and made her into the moon.” _That escalated quickly_ , I chuckled to myself. 

“Uhhh,” Kurama continued, trying to re-rail himself on his train of thought. “Because, humans have these...cores. Chakra cores. Their size and durability are different from person to person, and, as I said before, your chakra core is tiny,” He said as the corners of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. 

“So, what I did was I made it a little bit easier for you to borrow nature chakra to compensate for your tiny ass chakra core. Now, if you do practice doing some stuff like… Uuhh… Meditation! Yeah if you meditate a little bit, you should be fine.” Kurama beamed at me. 

I had a sinking feeling that, if Kurama ended up in my English 321: Structures of Logic and Discourse class, all the powers of Shmoop and SparkNotes couldn’t save him from failing. Clearing my throat, I asked: “Not to be rude or anything, but could you ask Kokuo and Isobu for some… Second and third opinions?”

“That means I have to go to that room again,” Kurama harrumphed under his breath. “Well,” He winced a little, “Ok, kit. I’ll go to those eggheads for their opinion as payment for all those stories you’ve been telling me.” _Who would have figured?_ I smirked, _It turns out that no matter what life you found yourself in, eggheads appeared to be a multi-versal constant_. 

* * *

Later on that night, Kurama uncomfortably sat in a lotus seat position, and delved into the shared bijuu psyche. Approaching the only light in the void, he could hear Isobu’s low rumble as well as Gyuki’s hearty chuckle in the distance. As he got closer, he could hear Saiken’s happy bubbling. Stepping into the light, this was the first time he saw his siblings in a near millennium. 

The chatting promptly stopped when they noticed Kurama, lingering in the periphery. “Hey there Kuu-ni,” He heard Gyuki gently call out. “Oh my,” Isobu exclaimed. “Long time no see brother!” Saiken chirped. 

He padded over to where they were clustered and flopped down. “Iso, I need your help.” 

Clearly taken aback by the unprompted request, Isobu fumbled for his words and asked, “What for Kuu-ni?” 

“Do ‘ya remember what the Sage said about all the human tenketsu and such? I was helping a friend open theirs and I think I might have messed up… A little.” 

After that, you could hear a pin drop in the bijuu mindscape. It was Gyuki that broke the silence after a good minute of wide-eyed silence. “Hot damn!” he yelled. “The hellcat and the overgrown beetle owe me favors now.” Isobu still seemed to be reeling from what Kurama had said. Saiken on the other hand was so happy, he was blowing bubbles everywhere. 

Taken aback, Kurama pointed to Gyuki and asked, “What was that.” 

“When you left to take your millenia long nap,” Isobu mumbled, “Matatabi and Chomei bet that you would remain napping, in isolation for two millenia. Gyuki and Saiken on the other hand, bet that you would find a friend in the span of two millenia. Personally, I weighed the odds in favor of Matatabi and Chomei.” 

“You took bets if I would make friends or not?” Kurama asked, incredulous—and slightly chagrined by his siblings lack of faith. “My social skills are just fine, thank you very much.” 

“No offence, Kuu-ni, but you were kind of a dick back then,” Saiken bubbles, his words harsh and unforgiving like his acid. 

Kurama couldn’t help but scowl at that. “No I wasn’t!” He yelled. 

“Yes you were,” All the bijuu sighed. 

“Which brings me to wonder, who is this friend of yours, Kuu-ni?” Saiken asked, turning his pupil-less face towards Kurama. 

“Their name is Sen. Sen is a human who…” Kurama said before the ambient noise died down again to leave perfect silence hanging over the bijuu mindscape. 

“I can’t believe it.” Isobu chuckles, hysteria dancing on his words. “Out of all of the siblings, it would be Kurama who would make friends with a human first.” 

“This Sen must be the second coming of the sage then,” Gyuki whispered. 

“As I was saying, before I was rudely cut off,” Kurama snapped. “Sen brought my familiar to me when he was injured when he was caught in a crossfire between shinobi. Sen did a whole bit where they were really polite, and asked for my help, because—get this—Inari,” Kurama momentarily stopped, when Saiken asked if that was the same fox he introduced to them when they were collecting their earthly familiars. 

“Yes, that same angsty kit I brought here when you brought Katsuyu over here, had apparently made friends with this human. That same angsty kit who, mind you, hated humans before Sen came around. So, I got curious. Then, Sen shared a story over dinner, and I just found myself coming back to them.” 

“Hmm,” Gyuki mused, “I would very much like to hear this story. Could you share it with us?” 

“Oh?” Kurama fumbled, caught off guard by the request. “So… There was this beautiful princess, and… Ahh… There was this champion who’s mom dunked him into a river in Yomi, and he fought and such in the war that followed, right?” 

“Like we’re supposed to know that, Kuu-ni,” Isobu chuckled. 

“GRAHHH!” Kurama exclaimed as he violently scratched the back of his neck. “Sen is way better at this than I am.”

“We are in our psyche right now,” Saiken gently interrupted, “You could just show the memory to us.”

Kurama shuffled into an abrupt lotus seating position and closed his eyes as the shared mindscape darkened. A small fire crackled in the center of their little cluster, and Sen’s unassuming figure sat there, staring into the embers. Sen’s voice filled the mindscape and the story began to retell itself. 

* * *

The next day, I noticed that Kurama did not show up for our usual morning walk and talk. It was a little odd, but it was not unexpected. He must be wrapped up talking with his siblings, I thought. I would be too if I suddenly showed up in a gathering after several millennia. I took my usual route to the blackberry bush to harvest the ripe berries. Just as I was going back to my little spring, I felt the sudden urge to go out and fish. 

There was a nice, clear stretch of river downhill, I remembered. Walking down to the riverbank, I heard someone trying to skip stones over the river. As I moved closer, I saw a boy, dressed in a robe of deep indigo, with a mane of spiky hair, casting stones he picked up from the river into the water. 

He seemed to be so engrossed with his stone throwing, that he failed to notice another boy’s footsteps behind him. This other boy had this horrendous bowl cut and was wearing a pale, cream colored outer jacket with green trimming around the edges. The bowl cut haired boy managed to fling a stone hard enough to reach the other side of the river. 

The sudden intrusion quickly evolved into bickering over stone throwing technique. Clearing my throat, I stepped out of the bushes. “Boys,” I declared, “Neither one of you is correct.” 

The indigo clad boy snapped his gaze towards me and shot me a mean glare. “Prove it, then,” He spat out. The other boy was just eyeing me with curiosity. 

Putting my basket of berries down, I walked to where they were standing, and bent down to sift through the stones that made up the riverbank. It took two minutes of dedicated searching, but I finally unearthed a perfectly flat stone. Walking up to the edge of the river, I coiled my arm back a little and, with a deft flick of my wrist, I threw the stoneacross the water. The stone made five graceful arcs from colliding with the water’s surface, and it contentedly found the other side of the river. 

“That was amazing!” The bowl cut haired boy exclaimed. “How’d you do that without throwing it hard?” 

Smiling, I turned to face the boy and I replied. “You know, the stones you were throwing were too round and too heavy. I imagine you had to throw them quite hard to reach the other side, correct?” I asked as I saw the bowl cut bob up and down in approval. The indigo boy still remained cautious and appraising, but curious nonetheless. 

“You need to find a relatively light stone that has a flat surface to be able to skip it over the water without hurling it with all your force,” I chuckled. 

“Where did you come from?” The indigo boy spoke, with an air of aloof-ness and with as much authority as he could muster. 

“I live in this forest,” I said as I gestured to the canopy of green around me. 

“No way,” The boy harrumphed. “No one can live here, not since the foxes moved in.” My face contorted in annoyance as I heard the vitriol behind the boy's words. _He must be referring to Inari and Retsuko,_ I thought. 

“Well,” I smirked, “Did anyone bother thinking that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t just A forest, but the Foxes’ forest?” The indigo boy sputtered, but did not have any response to my question.

We absentmindedly chatted as we skipped stones across the river for the better part of the afternoon before the indigo boy stood up and declared that he was going home. Before he went through the forest again, he gave one last look at the bowl cut boy and myself, then called out. “My name is Madara. I can’t tell you my family name, but it… It was nice meeting you both.” A little smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 

Not to be outdone, the bowl cut boy proudly stood up and replied with a beaming smile, “My name is Hashirama. I can’t tell you my family name either, but it was a pleasure to meet you and skip stones with you both.” 

Taking my cue to complete our little triumvirate, I stood up with a declaration of my own. “And my name is Sen. I’m afraid I have nothing to tell you about my family name, because I don’t have one. But I think that this was an afternoon well spent, no?” 

Both Madara and Hashirama gave a nod to that. Madara gave a wave before venturing out into the darkness of the forest. Not soon after, Hashirama bade me farewell and walked to the opposite direction _. Interesting pair those two were_ , I thought to myself. 

* * *

“So, kit,” Kurama said as we began on one of our regular walks. “I might have messed up a little bit when I opened your tenketsu the other day.” 

_I knew it_ , I mentally grimaced. But, looking at Kurama’s folded ears and awkward gait, all I replied was, “Oh?” 

“Yeah, Isobu gave me a good, long lecture for messin’ with your tenketsu,” Kurama said as he winced at the memory, before summoning the courage to tell me what happened. 

_After Kurama’s memory dissipated, Isobu’s single eye was as big as a large pond, Saiken was practically bouncing up and down, chortling for another story, and Gyuki sat in stunned silence. “I’ve never heard anything remotely like that before,” He managed to whisper._

_“Oh, before I forget, Isobu,” Kurama said, snapping Isobu out of his wide eyed reverie. “You’re handy with chakra theory right? Could you help me a little with Sen’s chakra?”_

_“Oh?” Isobu replied, “What about Sen’s chakra?”_

_“Well… I might have chewed Sen a little bit. Gently though! So I might have opened Sen’s tenketsu a smidge bit too much.” Isobu’s eyes became even wider at that._

_A few moments later Gyuki sat in the corner of the group, muffling his ears with his hands as Isobu shrieked at Kurama. “You dolt!” Isobu frothed, “It’s a miracle humans evolved far enough to produce a mind like Sen’s. Why’d you fuck up their tenketsu so much? You really bit ‘yerself in the foot here, Kuu-ni. What do you got to say for ‘yerself now? Huh?” It was rare that Isobu got this riled up._

_“I don’t know?” Kurama shouted back. “Maybe it was because I wanted to help Sen because their chakra core was so fucking small. I figured that, you know… If I just made Sen’s tenketsu bigger and more accepting of nature chakra, they would have more chakra in the long run… So I could help them if they wanted to use chakra, you know?”_

_Saiken slowly approached Kurama and gingerly placed a tail on his shoulder. “Kuu-ni, I’m really sorry to say, but… That’s not how human tenketsu work.” Gulping, Kurama’s fur visibly blanched from the realization._

_Isobu sighed. “I’m sorry Kuu-ni, but you’ve basically made a pot that has a lot of holes in it.” Kurama wrinkled his brow in confusion. Breathing out an even more exasperated sigh, Isobu continued on. “In theory, Kuu-ni, if Sen wants to use chakra now, they have to constantly draw chakra from nature because their internal chakra—no matter how controlled and fine—will always leak out of their body before they can even use it. I will show you the exercises the Sage taught us to harness nature chakra. Tell Sen this word for word,” Isobu lowered his voice and pointed a single, gnarled finger to Kurama to address the gravity of what he was going to say._

_“Sen has to follow these exercises exactly, every day. These exercises, should—in theory— acclimatize Sen to being in and using nature chakra in their day to day lives. Please stress the fact that if Sen fails to accomplish these exercises and uses nature chakra recklessly, Sen would probably become feral or turn into an animal due to overexposure.”_

Blanching at what Kurama told me, my throat parched up. No, I thought, I would very much like to avoid becoming an animal. “So, Kurama. What are these exercises that Isobu-san mentioned?” 

Kurama took a large and relieved exhale at the fact that I didn’t chew him up like Isobu did. “Well, we can start doing them here,” He said as he led me into the clearing in the heart of the forest. Upon reaching the center of the clearing, he took an elegant lotus seat position and placed his hands on either leg, with palms cupped to the sky. I silently sat down and mirrored his position. 

“Kit, close your eyes,” Kurama said, and I followed. “Now, I want you to remember the sensation you felt right after I gently chewed you a little.” Nodding, I remembered the feeling of all of the pores in my body being open. I remembered feeling this skin-tight layer of insulating energy, wrapped around my body. 

“Do you remember?” Kurama asked with a quizzical note in his voice. 

“Yes,” I breathed out. 

“Good. Now, try to visualize that memory. And, with the best of your ability, try to return to that state of being.” I took a deep breath, and dove into the memory wholeheartedly. Slowly but surely, I returned to that sensation. I felt each of my imaginary pores open up. But now, instead of a skin-tight suit, all my energy seemed to be leaking out. 

“Good,” Kurama repeated. “Now, do you feel all that energy leaking out into the air?” 

“Yes,” I replied. 

“Now, this is where the fun part begins,” Kurama mused. “I’m sorry for messing up your tenketsu a bit, but I don’t like to do things by halves. I kinda messed up when I forcibly opened your tenketsu, which is making all your internal chakra leak out when you use it. But now, I’m gonna teach you how to get that chakra back with a little bit extra thrown in it as well.

“Nature chakra, as I said before, is the chakra that surrounds everything. It is the chakra of the wind, earth, fire and water in their natural states. It is the chakra that all animals and plants have, no matter how small. Now, visualize your chakra exiting your body and mingling with the nature chakra around us. 

“This is where it gets a little bit tricky, Kit. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I got Isobu and Kokuo waiting in my mindscape with advice in case things go sour, alright?” Nodding, Kurama went ahead with the exercise. “Try to extend yourself as your internal chakra exits your body. Feel that energy seeping into the earth. Now, imagine that energy mingling with the spring you set your camp in. Imagine your energy flowing into the chakra of the bamboo grove. Imagine your energy trickling into the ring of oak trees.” 

It was like I had achieved astral projection. As Kurama walked me through the exercise, I could feel my chakra becoming one with the forest’s chakra. I could feel the gurgle of the spring water coming out of the depths of the mountain. I could feel the rustle of bamboo leaves against my skin. I could almost touch the coarse bark of the oak trees. “I think I’ve done it, Kurama.” I whispered. 

“Now, imagine all of your leaking energy like roots," Kurama said. "They’ve now ingrained themselves in the forest, and in places you’re familiar with. So, now that you’ve given a little bit of yourself, you can ask for a little bit in return. Try to absorb a little bit of the nature chakra you feel. This is what my siblings and I do when we replenish our chakra cores.” 

Taking a deep breath in, I tugged at the land’s chakra. _It was like a symbiotic relationship,_ I realized. _I had to give in order to be able to take. The land would do the same._ With that in mind, I gently tugged at the land’s energy. 

It was slow at first, but I could feel bits and pieces of the spring, bamboo forest and oak ring repaying the energy I gave. At first, it came back in a slow trickle. I felt the crispness of the cold, spring water, at first. But then, I felt the flexible pliability of the bamboo next. After that I felt the rigidity and strength of the oak. _It was like I had become one with the forest itself._

“Kokuo,” Kurama audibly whispered. “Are you sure Sen’s alright? They haven’t moved for a while. What do you mean don’t disturb them? I’m a little worried.” 

Kokuo apparently answered back when I heard Kurama scoff. “I never really needed to do this before. My chakra never got depleted that much, anyhow.” 

Opening my eyes, it was like I was born again. I could see everything, every little bit of nature chakra, gently thrumming in the immediate vicinity. I felt connected to every tree, every rock and every wisp of wind. It was a magical feeling. When I looked up to Kurama, I could see a happy smile tugging at his lips. 

“Isobu and Kokuo say that if you do those chakra exercise several times every day, you’ll adapt and acclimatize to using it in your everyday life,” Kurama said with a lilt of playfulness in his voice. “Yes, yes, I’ll get to your invitation soon. Don’t twist your tails into a knot you dolphin horse,” He hissed under his breath. 

“They also want to strike a deal with you,” He said. Not noticing his surprise, he continued on. “Isobu and Kokuo want to meet you. If you agree, for the price of several stories, they would be more than happy to go over the more… Boring theories of chakra,” Kurama smirked. 

“I know what I said, you overgrown turtle!” Kurama hissed, talking with his siblings through their shared mindscape. “Chakra theory is boring.” 

“The others want to meet you too. Saiken and Gyuki were pretty taken with the story about the champion and the walled city so they badgered me to invite you to where they’re staying. Matatabi, Son and Choumei were pretty curious about you, so they extended some invitations live with them as well. Shukaku said that you could stay with him as long as you found a story that could help him sleep. So, that about wraps up the invitation,” Kurama said, huffing out a sizable plume of fire. 

_Kurama definitely had a tendency to move first before thinking,_ I chuckled to myself. Still reeling from both my newfound sight and the very generous invitation Kurama’s siblings gave me, I stood up and spoke. “I would be honored to train under your siblings, Kurama. But, I think it would be wise to grow a little bit first. I think that I would be ready to travel to your siblings after a year of practicing handling nature chakra first.” 

“See,” Kurama whispered to Isobu and Kokuo, still in their shared mindscape. “I told you you’d like the kit.” 

“Now,” Kurama declared, “I’m gonna teach you how to walk and run again.” He got up to his fours, and shook off the dust from his coat. 

“What do you mean?” 

Kurama smirked. “You got to learn the basics before you jump to the more highfalutin’ parts of handling chakra. That much I can help you with.” 

“What are these basics?” I asked, getting up as well. 

“Running, jumping, climbing, walking on water and sensing your surroundings,” Kurama said. “I’m gonna teach you how to channel your chakra—or rather, your nature chakra—into your legs, eyes and senses. That should prove invaluable for you down the line.” 

“Oh shut up, you hybrid freak,” Kurama hiss-whispered into his ear, yet again. “I may have not listened to the Sage that much, but I do know the basics.” 

“Now, Kit,” He said with a tinge of wildness dancing behind his eyes as his nine tails flared behind him. “Are you ready to run?”

* * *

Over the better part of a year, my walks with Kurama became runs. At first, I was easily winded trying to keep up with Kurama’s pace. But, after a good several months, I could feel the land’s constant and solid chakra egging me on. _Go further, explore deeper_. It seemed to coo into my ear.

We ran, weaving through the forest. We ran over the river, and up cliff-sides. We were free. Slowly but surely, and under Isobu and Kokuo’s constant tutelage, (relayed through a very chagrined Kurama) I was able to better harness the borrowed nature chakra. I still got overly spent, as I could only take as much as my chakra core could give—but I became adequate in handling chakra in my day-to-day life. 

Inari and his growing family still joined Kurama and I for dinner. These pow-wows were a big part of my forest life. Kurama had delegated the forest’s care and upkeep to Inari and his family, so while busy, they would always bring something to roast over the fire. 

One day, when I was foraging for our pow-wows, I decided to find those cliff-side mushrooms that Michiko enjoyed. Breaking into a sprint, I wove through trees and rocks to reach the cliff on the southern end of the forest. We generally didn’t go that far south, as the shinobi clans preferred to frequent that part of the forest. 

As I neared the cliff, I sensed two people, sitting right on the cliffside. They felt familiar. Sowing down, I could see the edge of the forest, along with the two people who were sitting with their backs to the forest. 

“Hey!” I called out as I waved my hands in greeting. 

The two boys head’s swiveled around, revealing their faces. It was Hashirama and Madara again. Hashirama still had that god-awful bowl cut, but this time his hair seemed a little bit longer and Madara’s hair was still an unruly mane. But, I could see that their eyes changed. There was a deep sense of sorrow and melancholy that churned behind the back of their eyes. The sadness betrayed their youthful faces. 

“Sen?” Hashirama asked. I nodded in response, and both boys visibly relaxed. They seemed like they were readying themselves for a fight. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked them, as I walked to where they were sitting. 

“Nothing much,” Madara answered, his gaze was as piercing as ever. “We were just talking about the future.” 

“Oh? Would you indulge your old, stone-skipping friend and include them in your conversation?” I asked, taking a seat in between them. 

Hashirama beamed, “We were just talking about how we wanted to make a village where no child had to die from war.” 

“That is an admirable goal, Hashirama-san.” 

Madara’s lips quirked. “Yeah, a village where clans wouldn’t need to constantly fight to survive anymore. Where no child would be parted with their siblings or their families.” 

There was a sharp pang of melancholy that seared itself through my chest. _I miss my older brothers_ , I thought. _I miss my family… My village._ Hashirama’s eyes seemed to pick up on my sudden sadness and gently placed his hand on my shoulder. 

“Do you have any siblings?” He asked. 

“I had two older brothers,” I whispered. “They were killed when shinobi sacked my village.” 

Both Hashirama and Madara’s brows furrowed at that. “Do you remember what the shinobi looked like?” Madara seethed with a ferocity that had no place in a child’s voice. 

“The only thing I remembered was their blood red eyes,” Madara seemed to tense at what I said. 

“Uchiha,” Hashirama whispered. 

“Do you want revenge?” Madara said, as he leveled his gaze with me. “Let’s say you had a way to kill those men. Would you exact revenge for your family? If so, how would you want them to die?” 

“Madara…” Hashirama stammered, “Let’s not make Sen dwell too much on the past, yeah?” 

“No… No I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t take revenge,” I replied to Madara. 

“Why wouldn’t you?” He spat back.

“Because,” I leveled my gaze back to Madara. “If I kill someone, I might be killing someone’s parent, or sibling, or spouse, or child, or friend. If I kill that person, what will the kin of that person do, except take the revenge that I myself succumbed to. My found family, no matter how unusual, will take my death badly. They will go after whoever killed me, and in the process, will be swallowed by hate.” 

“I cannot, in good conscience, do that to my found family,” I said as my eyes burned with the same passion Madara had. “If I exacted my siblings revenge, I would inadvertently trigger several generation’s worth of conflict between my kin and their kin. Would you want to do that to your family, Madara?” I said as I stared at the boy. “Or you, Hashirama? Would you want to draw your families into generations of conflict that could be avoided if I just chose peace?” 

Both boys were quiet. Madara looked like he was grappling with his internal demons, and Hashirama adopted a thousand yard stare into the depths of the forest. It was Madara who broke the silence. “Well, choosing peace isn’t that easy as you make it out to be,” He spat.

“Here, let me tell you a little story. Think of it as a hypothetical scenario for your quest to peace.” Hashirama furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “There was once a great hero, who stood at the gates of a fort, ready to face an army, single handedly, all for the sake of a single bull. 

“The army belonged to a powerful queen who wanted to see who would win in a bull fight. Her husband’s powerful white bull, or the legendary bull that the king kept for himself. So, accompanied by her army, she set out to take this fabled bull from her rival king.” 

“How does a bull relate to peace?” Hashirama asked. 

“Hush, I’m getting to that part. Just stay quiet,” I said as I swatted Hashirama’s arm. “Unfortunately…” I continued, “The king of the fort chose that exact moment to anger a goddess. Because of the king’s foolishness, she sent down a curse among the king’s army that gave the army severe bouts of stomach cramps. 

“Only our hero was spared from the goddesses’ curse. So, he steeled himself to face the bitter queen’s army alone. Though he was the best warrior in the fort, he knew that he could not face the queen’s army all at once. So, he challenged the army to single combat, to fight off every soldier one by one. 

“But, a great worry etched itself into the hero’s mind. His best friend was fighting for the queen’s army.” Madara’s eyes widened a tiny fraction, betraying his cool exterior. Good, I thought, now I have his attention. “Years before, our hero met his best friend when they trained under a renowned warrior. Under the warriors tutelage, they lived together, trained together and became fast friends. But now, both friends stood opposite each other on opposing sides in the battlefield. Our hero was worried that, one day, he would have to face his best friend in combat.

“Day after day, the hero fended off waves of the queen’s army, alone. Sometimes, he sent the heads of some of the heads of the rival soldiers back to the queen. Other times, he would slip into a trance-like state of pure violence, killing hundreds of soldiers at a time. 

“Back in the queen’s camp, our hero’s friend was doing everything he could to lay low. He wanted to avoid fighting his friend, but the queen goaded him, and questioned his honor till he had no choice but to fight. 

“The two friends faced off at the fort, and they matched each other in strength, skill and weaponry. On the third day of their fight, the hero’s friend was slowly gaining the upper hand. But, unbeknownst to him, the hero had a secret weapon. You see, his teacher taught him how to summon a legendary weapon—a magical spear that was made from the bones of sea-monsters. 

“The hero summoned the magical spear and stabbed his friend to death, and collapsed. The queen saw her chance and rushed to claim the fortress, but the king’s army finally recovered from their magical illness, so they were finally able to march against the queen’s forces. But, they were too late.

“The queen was able to cross into the king’s territory and claim the bull for her own. Returning home, she finally was able to make the bulls fight against each other. The fight between the two was long and arduous, and dragged on across the entire realm. In the end, the brown bull won. But, the victory meant nothing to the bull. He was tired, injured and inflicted with deep sadness. He died, in the end, to a broken heart—leaving a realm scarred by war.” 

“What does that story have to do with anything?” Madara hissed after I had finished talking

I shot both boys a glare before I spoke. “Do you see each other as friends?” I asked.

Both boys shared a meaningful look between each other, before both responded with a resounding yes. 

Nodding, I continued. “Then, Hashirama, if you were in the shoes of our hero in the story, would you be able to face Madara in battle? Knowing full well that you had a trump card that could kill him if the need arose?” Hashirama didn’t have an answer to that question. 

“And Madara,” I said as I turned to face him, “If you were in the position of the hero’s best friend, do you think that you could be forced to fight Hashirama?” 

“No!” Madara declared with a puffed-up chest. 

“Well, what if your father forced you to fight Hashirama? What would you do then?” Madara visibly withered at that follow up question. 

“For someone who interrupted our discussion about peace with a hopeless experiment, you aren’t really painting a convincing picture for peace there,” Hashirama scowled. 

“My point is, peace is hard. Especially if the conflict is driven by selfish desires. Selfishness breeds passion, and passion—while normally good—can cloud our vision. It can make us feel like conflict is inevitable. But,” I said as I raised a finger in the air. “What would have happened if the two warriors chose to do something to circumvent their leader’s selfish motivations for battle?”

Both boys' faces scrunched up in thought. “What do you think would have happened if both warriors chose to confront their leaders about not fighting? The queen’s army was all but decimated by the hero, so the hero’s friend could have simply chosen not to fight, making the queen’s advance grind to a stop. As for the hero himself, his entire army was crippled by a magical curse. He could have very well taken advantage of that situation to avoid a fight entirely.” 

Madara’s eyes seemed to momentarily shine with a sudden realization, but the shine was instantly drowned out by frustration and exasperation. “Real life is never that easy,” Madara yelled. “You make it seem so… Simple. Peace is never that easy to achieve.” 

Scoffing, I shot him an indignant stare. “I never said peace would be easy. Peace requires an active stream of communication between the two parties in conflict. It also requires decisiveness and critical thought. You see, war gives people tunnel vision. The death and desolation can horribly mess with a person’s mind. And in their want to fight back, they can fail to see that their leaders were selfish morons who were motivated by some inane desire to fight. 

“Tell me Madara, would you go to war against Hashirama and his family if your father wanted to get a bull in their possession?” Madara frowned before shouting no. “War makes people think that conflict is inevitable. But conflict is never inevitable. There is always a way to vie for peace. The hard part is finding a way to achieve that peace. 

“Yes, achieving peace is a long and arduous task. It will undoubtedly open bitter wounds. But peace is never an impossibility.” 

“Then what would you do, if your family forced you to fight your friend as well as their family?” Hashirama whispered. 

That question caught me off guard for a moment, but a devilish thought dawned on me. “A stalemate,” I declared. 

“What do you mean?” Madara asked, with genuine curiosity. 

“I would make sure that my friend and I were evenly matched. But first, I would make sure that I was the strongest person in my family. Think about it. If the strongest members of each family couldn't defeat their counterpart in a fair fight, how could the conflict evolve and move on? I would need to rope in some trusted people to help the scheme, but that would purely be for making sure that no one would get overly hurt or injured in each fight.” 

Hashirama’s eyes widened. “If we’re evenly matched, and if we have people on both sides making sure that no one is killed, the war would come to a stand still.” 

Hope flashed across Madara’s face. “Then no one would win, but no one would be able to lose either. People would just slowly lose their motivation to fight! It would just be a matter of time making sure that both sides of the conflict would tire themselves out!”

“Exactly,” I smirked. “Then, when there is no more motivation for war, all that is left is to negotiate for peace. Reparations for deaths and acts of reconciliation to show good faith would be a proper start to the negotiations. But they should serve as a good foundation to build lasting peace on.” 

“Madara, it really can happen,” Hashirama said as he extended his hand to Madara and gave him a look filled with hope. 

“We can make it happen,” Madara replied, grasping Hashirama’s hand and pulling himself up on his two feet. “We can make our village happen. It’s not just a pipe dream anymore.” 

The scene struck me. Both boys were clasping each other's hands, gripping them with a newfound fervor. The weariness and desolation were gone from their eyes. All that remained was hope. Hope for a better future. Hope that was blessed by the tawny, golden glow of the setting sun. 

“Thank you, Sen. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much,” Hashirama said as he tackled me into a crushing hug. 

“It was a pleasure taking with you both,” I managed to wheeze out. Noticing my laboured breath, Hashirama immediately stopped his bone-breaking hug. Coughing, I gave them both a smile. “Good. Now, you might want to get out of the forest before nightfall.” 

“And why would we need to have a curfew?” Madara asked. “We can take care of ourselves,” He said as he puffed out his chest. 

“Suffice it to say that the master of this forest would not take kindly for two shinobi so casually entering the forest. As a matter of fact, now that the master of the forest is awake, you should probably tell your families to steer clear of the forest in its entirety,” I told them.

“But, what if we want to talk to you again?” Hashirama asked, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. 

“Remember the river where you met me?” I asked. Both boys nodded in affirmation. “Go to that river, and follow it up the mountain until you reach the river’s source. There’s a small spring there, and that’s where my camp is. You should be able to find me there.”

Remembering the journey I was soon setting out for, I hastily added. “Although, I will be leaving for a journey across the continent soon. So, if you have any last minute conversations to do, I suggest that you find me sooner than later. My journey has no real set end date, so I imagine that I wouldn’t come back to the forest anytime soon.” 

“Where are you going?” Madara said with an upturned eyebrow. 

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” I replied with a grin. “So while I’m gone, just steer clear of the forest, and you'll be fine.” 

With several more bone-crushing hugs from Hashirama, and a nod along with a “Hnn” from Madara, both boys bounded to opposite sides of the forest. I was about to do the same before I remembered what I came to the cliffside to do. _It looked like I would bring both mushrooms and a conversation starter to dinner,_ I laughed. 

I already imagined how it would go. _“Something happened on the way to the cliffside,”_ I chuckled to myself as I scaled down the cliff face to find those mushrooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> summer classes are done and i can finally w r i t e AHHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> anywho, hope you enjoy this chapter! i enjoyed writing madara's parts as well as isobu's. i have to admit, it's a little hard writing gyuki and hashirama. i'm gonna write as far as i can before i start the new semester. online learning is weird. 
> 
> i'm sorry for having such slow pacing, but i really want to give you guys a good exposition to my remade naruto world! next chapter, sen finally starts traveling around the continent, you'll never guess which bijuu sibling is the first stop on sen's travels. + sen meets another fairly familiar face.
> 
> a note on the ages of the characters:  
> sen - 7   
> madara & hashirama - 8


	4. Our Hero Finally Sets Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, our hero sets off on their journey across the continent, not before receiving several parting gifts from friends and newfound family alike.

One evening, when Kurama and Inari’s family finished wolfing down the salmon that had swam up the river, I felt two familiar presences approaching the banks of the spring. One was unmistakably Hashirama’s. The other person’s chakra felt colder, more calculated and significantly calmer than Hashirama’s chakra. It felt like swimming through the river during winter. 

Kurama and the foxes seemed to sense the unfamiliar sources of as well, letting out sinister growls. “You can come out of the bushes now,” I spoke to the darkness. “It's rude to spy on an innocent dinner, you know.” 

The bushes parted to reveal a sheepish looking Hashirama, and a boy that looked like he was right about my age. But, unlike Hashirama’s oak wood colored skin, the other boy was significantly paler, with a shock of white hair seemingly glowing in the bonfire’s light. 

Both boys tensed when they saw the little gathering of foxes with their raised hackles, but I gestured to the log on the opposite side of where I was sitting. Warily accepting the invitation, the two boys cautiously walked towards the log. The moment they were about to sit down, Kurama let out a deep, otherworldly growl and leaked out a drop of killing intent. 

In an instant, the boys leapt from their relaxed positions to adopt hastily prepared fighting stances. Sighing, I cast an exasperated look at Kurama, who—even though he significantly shrank down to sit by the fire—was no less intimidating. “Kurama,” I sighed, “This is Hashirama and…”

“Tobirama,” The white haired boy warily said, complete with clenched fist. 

“And Tobirama,” I continued. “They’re friends of mine, and I invited them to come up to my spring if they wanted to talk before I left for my journey.” 

Kurama shot a petulant look at me before sitting back down on the ground. He still never broke his gaze with the two shinobi children. “Oh, this is Kurama,” I said, gesturing towards the fox beside me. “And that is Inari and Retsuko and their kits. They are the masters of this forest.” 

“So it is true that someone tamed the foxes,” Tobirama said, with an indiscernible tone. 

“We were not tamed,” Inai fumed. “We reached an agreement with Sen, and settled it with perfectly civil terms.” 

“You’re not a summoning animal,” Tobirama retorted, with eyes squinting. “How can you talk?” 

“And you’re a petulant child that seems to think that humans are the only beings capable of higher thought,” Retsuko seethed, complete with unconcealed claws. 

Tobirama’s eyes squinted even further. As he was readying to pounce on Inari and Retsuko, Hashirama firmly planted his hand on Tobirama’s shoulder. “We mean no disrespect, your fox-nesses,” Hashirama said. “Uuhhh, I just wanted to give Sen some parting gifts before they set out on their journey, that’s all! We come bearing no ill will.” Then, Hashirama produced a parcel wrapped in deep green cloth. 

“And I wanted to meet the person that Ainja was gushing about the other day,” Tobirama cooly said. 

“Then I imagine we have a lot to talk about,” I said as I gave Tobirama an amused look. “I’m sure we can all talk freely without any threat of harm, that goes for all of us,” I mused as I leveled both the foxes and the boys an expectant gaze. “Please, take a seat by the fire.” Both boys visibly relaxed, and took their places sitting across from me. 

After taking their seats, Hashirama gingerly extended the parcel to me, and I received it with both hands. “Please, open it,” Hashirama gently spoke. As I unwrapped the cloth, I was greeted with a sight of several books. Joy instantly bloomed in my chest. I hadn’t touched a book in a good number of years, so just holding some again made my heart contract with joy. 

“I included a book on the history of the continent, and another book about some old legends! Oh, I also included a novel that my mother liked to read. It has a lot of hard kanji, so I also included a dictionary in there,” Hashirama sheepishly played with his fingers. “I figured that you’d want to read while you’re traveling, I hope you like the gift,” Hashirama beamed. 

I extended both my hands and gingerly accepted Hashirama’s gift. The slightly aged paper, the faint smell of ink and the taught string binding everything together brought a tear or two to my eye.  _ I can read again _ , I thought to myself. “Thank you, so, so much, Hashirama,” I said with a voice verging on tears. 

“Oh, it’s no problem!” He exclaimed. “Otou-san gave me those books because he wanted me to read more, but I never got around to reading them. So, I figured that those books are better off with you than collecting dust in my room.” 

Wrapping my arms around the books and bringing them close to my chest, I gave Hashirama a smile. “I really, really cannot thank you enough for this. I’m not sure I can even repay you for this.” 

Hashirama’s cheeks blushed in the firelight. Just as he was about to speak, Tobirama abruptly cut him off. “Well, there is something that you can do to repay the gift my family gave you.” 

“Tobi!” Hashirama whisper-hissed. “It was my gift to Sen, you can’t just do that! It’s rude.”

Unwavering, Tobirama leveled his gaze with me. “I would like to ask your opinion on something that has been troubling me.” 

Quirking my eyebrow, I cut off Hashirama as he was about to launch into an impromptu lecture on manners to his little brother. “Hashirama, it’s quite alright. Tobirama has every right to ask for my opinion on something, all I have to do is to wait for his manners to come back to him.” 

Tobirama realized my not-so-subtle dig at him, and grumbled out a faint ‘please’. “There, that’s better isn’t it?” I said with an amicable smile. “So, Tobirama-san, what matter could possibly trouble you so deeply as to make you forget your manners?” 

Tobirama squinted his eyes in frustration before responding to my question. “Those Uchiha bastards murdered my brothers,” He seethed with a deadly chill lacing his voice. “Why should I make peace with them?” 

Kurama and the foxes stilled at the hate in Tobirama’s voice. “You know, the Uchiha killed my family too, yet I do not seek any revenge against them,” Tobirama still looked unconvinced. “I must confess, I was tempted to seek revenge once, but that changed after I asked myself a question.” 

“Oh?” Tobirama said, “And what would that question be?”

“I asked myself: ‘What tragedy would push someone to commit another tragedy of equal or even greater magnitude?’” All I could hear after that was the slow crackle of the fire. “I assume that Hashirama told you my thoughts on the cycle of hate?” Tobirama gave a short and curt nod. “And I assume that you were unhappy with such a seemingly shallow and naive viewpoint, no?” Again, Tobirama gave an affirmative nod.

“Being skeptical is good, Tobirama. Everyone should have a healthy dose of doubt in them. So, I want to give you something to direct that doubt to,” It was Tobirama’s turn to quirk his eyebrow in confusion. “Have you ever wondered how that cycle of killing and hate started?” 

Tobirama’s brow furrowed in thought, but I was on a roll. “If you can think back, what was the likely cause of the cycle?” 

“Uchiha Tajima’s grandfather, Uchiha Kagen, felled our great-grandfather: Senju Kouga. That caused our grandfather, Senju Hirohito to ascend to the position of clan head at seventeen. In the next battle, Senju Hirohito avenged his father and killed Uchiha Kagen. I think that would be a start to everything.” 

“No, that can’t be,” Hashirama said. “I remember reading something about Senju Mikoto being killed by Uchiha Tokimi. Senju Mikoto was Kouga’s mother, and Uchiha Tokimi was Uchiha Kagen’s… Uuuuh, I don’t really remember her exact relation to Uchiha Kagen, but I know she was part of his immediate family.” 

“Huh?” Tobirama exclaimed with a scowl tugging at the corners of his lips. “Otou-san hasn’t shown me that record yet.” 

“That’s because you’re still too young to read it, Tobi,” Hashirama winced as Tobirama glared daggers into Hashirama’s side. “The older records get really violent.” 

“Well, then,” I softly spoke. “Once you’re able to, you might want to find the oldest record you have on your conflict of the Uchiha. Find the tragedy that started all this bloodshed and killing. If you know how this whole mess started, you can work backwards in piecing together the whole web of war. I know this might seem like more trouble than it’s worth, but this might help you understand how your hate of the Uchiha got to where it is today.” 

Tobirama didn’t have a response to that. Both he and Hashirama shared a knowing look. “You’ve given me much to think about, Sen,” Tobirama said as he stood up. “I think Hashirama was right to confide his worries to you. You seem to have an answer to all our questions. With that being said, I hope you can lend me your opinion in the future.” His gaze turned to the foxes before giving them a bow. 

“Damn right you should bow,” Kurama scoffed. Tobirama gave him an unamused glare.

Growling, Kurama flared his nine tails from out of the darkness. “I am the Kurama, child of the Sage and the legendary Nine-tailed Fox, and you will treat me with the respect I deserve,” He snarled. 

“That’s a good illusion, nogitsune. But isn’t the Kyuubi supposed to be… I don’t know… Taller?” Tobirama smirked before taking off into the darkness. 

“I’ll swallow him whole the next time I see him,” Kurama muttered under his breath. 

“Uuhh…” Hashirama eloquently made out. “I’m so sorry for Tobi’s rudeness, Sen. Oh, and I want to apologise on Tobi’s behalf to you too your fox-nesses. I’ll follow what Sen told us, and I’ll make sure our family avoids the forest all together.” 

Hashirama turned to me, and tackled me in one of his crushing hugs. “Bye Sen. I’ve only known you a little while, but I’d like to skip stones with you again in the future,” Hashirama whispered. He awkwardly broke off the hug and walked into the forest’s darkness. He gave us one last wave and shouted, “Safe travels, Sen! I hope I can see you soon!” 

“I don’t know about you, but I think that black haired human is alright,” Kentaro said as he continued eating his grilled fish.

“Hmf,” Retsuko huffed. “But his brother was so rude to Sen-chan. I had half a mind to claw his face the next time I see him.” With that, the conversation we had earlier picked up again, with Kurama grumpily entertaining Momoko and Michiko’s questions about when they could get their second tails. 

“Why wasn’t that silver haired bastard afraid of me?” Kurama grumbled. “I’m losing my edge. I used to be able to make humans shit themselves in fear.” 

“Kurama,” I whispered, “You aren’t at your full height.” 

“Damn it!” Kurama screamed. "I should have leaked out a little bit of my bloodlust there. What a perfectly wasted opportunity to see a human soil themselves." 

Several nights later, Madara and his younger brother paid our clearing a visit. Unlike Hashirama and Tobirama, they strode into the clearing just as twilight was starting. This time, Inari and Retsuko were out hunting, so only Kurama and I were sitting by the fire. 

Sensing the two, Kurama rose to his full—albeit still shrunken—size and let out a low snarl. I noticed that Kurama let out a little drop of his bloodlust, this caused the two boy’s confident gait to stop. Now more cautious, Madara slowly made his way into the light of the bonfire, with his little brother trailing a few steps behind him. “Sen told me that this forest has a master, and I’m assuming that that’s you,” Madara said, looking at Kurama’s tense form. “So my little brother, Izuna, and I brought you a chicken from the clan coop as a show of good will.”

Kurama stopped snarling, sat down and leveled an unimpressed gaze at Madara. “I won’t rip out your throat then,” He smirked. Madara and his younger brother’s eyes widened at the talking fox. “Well, what are you waiting for? Bring the chicken over here so we can cook it already,” Kurama barked. 

Regaining their faculties, Madara and his little brother slowly but surely made their way to one of the logs around the campfire. I held out my hand and gestured to the chicken, still gripped in Madara’s white knuckles. Realizing what I was asking for, Madara awkwardly shoved the chicken to my direction, and I started to pluck out its feathers to prepare it for grilling.

“So, you’ll be setting out on your journey soon?” Madara asked, his dark eyes illuminated by the fire. 

“Yes, I’ll be setting out East in several days,” I replied. I had stripped the chicken of it’s feathers in a good minute. I now took an improvised knife to carve out and let the chicken’s blood drain. 

“Well, I imagine this would be of good use to you,” Madara said as he—like Hashirama had done several days prior—reached out to give me a wrapped package. It was a markedly larger parcel wrapped in a deep, indigo cloth. Accepting the package, I was a little startled by the unexpected lightness of the box. 

“I suppose you’d need a sturdy place to carry all your belongings while you travel,” Madara said as I unwrapped the indigo fabric to reveal a well-crafted wooden box that had a door that opened to a sizable compartment within, fastened by wrought-iron hinges. The box itself was bracketed with two sturdy leather straps.  _ A backpack! _ I realized. 

“Thank you, Madara. This is a very thoughtful gift,” I said as I wrapped my arms and hugged the backpack. 

“Nii-san, you forgot the other gift,” Madara’s little brother whispered. 

Madara was shaken out of his reverie, watching me clutch the wooden backpack. A blush bloomed across his cheeks as he fumbled around to produce another wrapped parcel. “I think this will serve you much better than… That,” Madara said as he pointed to my improvised stone knife. 

As I unwrapped the package, a wakizashi in the same wood of the backpack. It was a small blade, but as I unsheathed it, it was nonetheless sharp. “It’s smaller than the regular katana, but it should be more than enough to help you with cutting meat and whatnot,” Madara said, fixing his intense gaze in my direction. “I hope you never have to use it to defend yourself.” 

“Madara, you shouldn’t have!” I said. “Thank you again for your gifts. The next time we have a campfire get-together like this, I can prepare the chicken you’ll bring with this!” I said as I brandished the wakizashi. 

Looking at Madara’s face, I saw a deep sadness reflected through his eyes. His mouth was pressed into a line, and his hands were bunching up his robe. “I just…” He began before, trailing off. “I just wanted to start trying to make amends with these gifts.” 

“What do you mean?”

Madara gulped, and went on. “I wanted to come here to apologize for something my clansman did. You see, I am the future head of the Uchiha clan—the clan that, according to your account, slaughtered your village.” 

All at once, my age caught up to me and those memories of hearing screams and explosions in the distance came flooding back to me.  _ I miss Okaa-san, I miss Otou-san, I miss Oba-san, I miss Hiro, I miss Kizu.  _ I couldn’t help but tear up at the fear I felt so many years ago. 

“I know that a pack and a wakizashi can’t bring your family back, but I want to make amends. I… I want to do right by what you said. I want to end this cycle of children losing their families.” 

“I think it’s very brave of you to tell me this, Madara,” I said with tears streaming down my face. “I may still resent your clansman for doing what he did to my village, but I am trying to forgive them. I do not resent you for something that your kin did.” 

Madara stood up and gave me a deep bow. “Thank you for finding it in your heart to try to forgive my clansman’s actions. I will not fail in vying for peace.” Through the firelight, I could see an iron-clad resoluteness shone through Madara’s eyes, a resolution to be better. 

“But it feels like it’s all just… Unavoidable,” Madara's little brother whispered. “It all just feels like no matter what I do to avoid it, we can never really escape the Uchiha curse.” 

“And what is this curse?” I asked. 

Madara gulped, “They say that we need to experience the death of a loved one to awaken our sharingan.” As he spoke, his eyes changed. Out of the formless black, red slowly bled into his pupils as a miniature wheel spun into existence. What looked like three lazy commas rotated along with the wheel. “I had to see my aunt and uncle die on the battlefield to awaken my sharingan, and I had to kill an enemy ninja on the battlefield to fully unlock the sharingan’s power.” 

Horrible. I told myself. A child has to witness a tragedy just to unlock an ability of theirs. 

“That’s bullshit,” Kurama spoke. Needless to say, everyone in the clearing was shocked at Kurama’s sudden outburst. All of us looked at him for an explanation. Huffing, he continued. “Indra never needed to awaken shit. He always had those red eyes.” 

“How do you know Indra Otsutsuki?” Izuna asked, incredulous. 

“I’m older than I seem,” Kurama barked. 

“But you’re so cute…”

“What did you call me?” Kurama hissed. “I’ll rip your Sage-damned throat out of your worthless little body, you little vermin!” 

“What about Indra-sama’s sharingan?” Madara said. 

“He and his dumb-as-soup brother were always coddled by the Sage, so Indra never really experienced a ‘tradgedy’. No he grew into those eyes,” Kurama huffed. “Sure, the brats had some pretty bad fights down the line, but Indra always had those weird eyes.” 

“How is that possible?” Madara spat, undoubtedly irritated by Kurama’s nonchalance. “All of the elders said that, to awaken the sharingan, you need to witness a tragedy.” 

Kurama shot Madara a smirk. “Well, dipshit, did you ever realize that there’s a pair of tenketsu behind your eyes?” 

_ Kokuo had mentioned during one of the sense training sessions that all of a human’s senses were connected to tenketsu in one capacity or another the other day,  _ I recalled. 

“What? No!” Madara squawked, doubt lacing his voice. “The eyes can't handle the constant strain of chakra! The overexposure of your eyes to a tenketsu would make you slowly go blind!” 

“Yeah, but the tenketsu behind the eyes are pretty small. I think what your ancestors did was that they used the emotional trauma to forcibly expand their tenketsu. But, if you gather enough chakra and thread it through the tiny-ass eye tenketsu, you should be able to get Indra’s freaky eyes in no time, sans the whole going blind part.” 

Madara gave a huff of his own. “Izuna, what do you th—” He said as Izuna promptly shushed him. A serious expression was wrought on Izuna’s face. 

“I’m trying what fox-san said,” Izuna whispered. “I’m trying to find… Wait! I found it!" He chortled. I could feel his chakra pooling behind his eyes. "The tenketsu! They're there! They’re right at the base of the optic nerve.” 

“Huh?” Madara eloquently responded. 

“Focus your chakra where the optic nerve starts, you’ll be able to see them there.” 

Madara remained silent for the better part of a minute, following his brother's instructions before gasping. “You’re right! There’s two tenketsu behind the eyes.” 

“Told you so,” Kurama contentedly smirked. “Now all you need to do is gradually pool chakra there for several months, and you should get Indra’s eyes in no time.” 

Izuna slowly settled down and closed his eyes. I could feel him gathering chakra behind his eyes, just as Kurama told him to. Madara watched his little brother in silence; I could practically feel the nervous energy radiating from him. 

After a good several minutes, I sensed that Izuna gathered up a significant amount of chakra behind his eyes. He carefully threaded the chakra through the needle-hole like tenketsu at the base of his optic nerve, and his eyes fluttered open. The coal black eyes were replaced with eyes that were stained a deep red. One lazy looking comma spun at the wheel’s pace. 

“I did it, Nii-san!” Izuna screamed. “I got the sharingan! Without the curse!” 

Madara was standing awkwardly with wide eyes and a slack jaw. He was mumbling under his breath and from what I could pick up, he was saying something along the lines of ‘it was so simple’ and ‘how come nobody thought of this before?’ 

Izuna crashed into Kurama, in a hug similar to Hashirama’s bone-crushers. He buried his face in Kurama’s coat, muttering “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” over and over again. Kurama was about as startled as Madara, staring at me with a ‘help me’ look. 

Gently, I scooped Izuna up from his position hugging Kurama and offered myself as a substitute. Izuna promptly wrapped his arms around me and hugged. This continued on until the sun completely hid behind the mountains, and plunged the forest into darkness. Madara picked up Izuna, and gave one last round of farewells and wishes for safe travel.

“I have faith in you Madara. You and Hashirama both. You will be the ones who will break the cycle of hate,” I said, giving Madara a friendly wave. 

“I said it before, Sen. And I will say it again, I am honored to be trusted with your faith. I will not fail bringing peace,” He said as he fixed his intense gaze in my direction. Both boys vanished into the darkness of the forest. 

Making my way back to the campfire, I saw Kurama gazing into the fire’s embers. He wore a pensive look. “Ryo for your thoughts?” I asked. 

Never breaking his gaze with the crackling fire, Kurama spoke in a soft voice. “I used to hate humans. I never really thought that they were capable of anything other than hate and destruction,” He said as he seemed to feel Izuna’s phantom hug around his fur again. “It seems that I was hasty in my judgement.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


After a year and a half of dedicated training, I was finally confident enough to leave the forest. “Do you have everything, kit?” Kurama said as he watched me double check the contents of my pack again. Hashirama’s books, now significantly used, were tucked at the bottom of the pack. 

Funnily enough, I was so caught up with the excitement of holding a book again that I completely forgot that—for all intents and purposes—I was illiterate. This was remedied through several extra lessons from Isobu and Kokuo, teaching me the basic syntax and sentence structure they remembered from the Sage’s lessons when they were young. I filled in the gaps with learning the characters from the dictionary Hashirama gave me. 

Inari, Retsuko and the kits gathered dried berries and fish jerky for my send off. I wrapped my food provisions in the cloth that Hashirama and Madara gave me. Everything fit perfectly in my pack. 

“Before you leave,” Inari said, “We have a parting gift for you.” Inari pulled a huge scroll out of a cloud of smoke and set it down on the riverbank. “This is a summoning scroll. I think it’s high time that you sign your name in it, you know, to seal our friendship through blood and paper.” 

Inari unfurled the scroll with a flourish, to expose column upon column of empty space. “All you need to do is to draw a little bit of blood, focus your chakra and direct it back to the forest, put your hand on the nearest surface and you can call any one of us foxes, except Kurama sama. You just need to sign your name here,” He said as he pointed at the very first column of the scroll. 

I unsheathed Madara’s wakizashi and gently held it’s edge with my palm. Little pools of red bloomed out of the fresh cut. I dipped my finger into the warm blood, and signed my name on the scroll. It was a single, stark character written in crimson on a pure white background. “千” It read. 

“I think you’re forgetting something, Kit,” Kurama smiled. 

“And what would that be?” I asked, smiling back. 

“Add Otsutsuki to the end.” 

“What?” I eloquently replied. 

“Well, you’re one of us,” Kurama declared. 

“Are you sure, Kurama? I mean, I don’t want to intrude on you and your sibling’s family but—” 

Giving me a fond smile, Kurama cut me off. “Look kit, I talked it over with my siblings, and we all agreed that we’d want you in our family. Shukaku was a little bit pissy about it at first, but I got him to come around in the end. I mean, we aren’t really related by blood or anything, heck we don’t even have blood. What matters is that we—I—would like to be your family.” 

I didn’t need prompting to crash into Kurama with a hug. Happy tears were streaking across my face as I buried my head into Kurama’s fur. “If you would have me, Kurama, I would be honored to be a part of your family.” 

All those years ago, I entered the forest as Sen. But now, I left it as a newly christened: Sen Otsutsuki. Smiling, I made my way down the slope of the mountain, following the river east. _I now had a family to return to,_ I told myself. But first, I had to meet my new relatives. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HULLO!!! 
> 
> i had a lot of fun writing this chapter. i think i got hashirama and madara's voices down already. i wanted tobirama to have some empathy towards the uchiha in this fic so that, you know, he wouldn't make the bad decision of segregating them in konoha down the line. i also wanted izuna to have a distinct voice in this fic, and i figured that i could explore it through the 'sharingan curse'. writing that scene was pretty fun, but in all seriousness our bodies do have physiological and psychological responses to trauma, so i wanted to incorporate that into the uchiha anatomy. 
> 
> yes, sen is pretty book smart. no, they were a professor of comparative literature that had a minor in classical lit. so, i figured that it would make sense for sen to be illiterate because of their lack of background in japanese. lastly, i generally find that kurama has a very, very entertaining voice to write. 
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER WE MEET A BIJUU!!!
> 
> a note on the characters ages:   
> sen - 9 1/2


	5. Our Hero Sets Out to Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero finally meets the first of Kurama's siblings, learns how to swim for a second time and continues with the sequel of an earlier epic.

As I bounded my way down the length of the river, the skies darkened and—all at once—it was as if the sky decided to give me a baptism of rain to send me off on my journey. _What good luck I have_ , I muttered to myself, as I continued to wrap chakra around my legs to take even bigger strides. _As long as I don’t trip and fall on a wet stone, I should get to the coast in at least three days._

After a day and a half of dedicated running—punctuated with the occasional break for replenishing my chakra reserves—the trees finally seemed to thin out to expose a rocky coastline. I recalled what Kurama told me right before I left, _‘Listen well, Kit. You just follow the river to the sea. There’s a swamp where the river meets the sea. Don’t go around it, go through it. Isobu will meet you at the edge of the swamp and bring you to his stretch of ocean.’_

Kurama didn’t exactly lie when he said that there would be a swamp at the end of the river, he just didn’t specify it’s scale. It was huge. From what I could tell, standing at the threshold of the swamp, it stretched several kilometers in each direction from the river mouth. Steeling myself, I forged on.

Surprisingly, it was actually quite pleasant to go through the swamp. The quality of the nature chakra here felt different. It felt slightly more sedate and slightly cooler than the forest chakra that I was used to. There was the occasional crocodile I had to steer clear from, but other than that, I felt a different kind of peace as I waded through the water.

Finally, as the clouds were—again—threatening to burst, I reached where the swamp ended and the sea started. Standing on an exposed root on of a mangrove tree, I could sense a dense mass of chakra coming closer. If Kurama’s normal chakra felt like a gust of wind that rustled the autumn leaves to the ground, this energy felt like the sea before a storm—calm, but capable of breaking its stillness at a moment’s notice. 

A large shadow appeared in the shallows of the sea. I could feel the mass of chakra starting to break out from the water, and that’s when I saw Isobu’s shell. It looked like a reef decided to become an island. Coral as big as trees emerged from out of the water with a mixture of algae and seagrass acting as grass. Not soon after, three tails jutted from out of the water, behind the shell. Last, but certainly not the least, Isobu brought his head out from the water.

Long spines acted as a cowl that covered one of his eyes, but his other, yellow eye was firmly fixed at me. “Hello there,” a low rumble escaped Isobu’s mouth. “You must be Sen.”

“Indeed I am. You must be Isobu. It is a pleasure to meet you at last,” I replied.

The edges of Isobu’s lone eye crinkled in a smile. “No, no, the pleasure is all mine. Any human that could make friends with Kurama is alright in my eye.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Come now, I will lead you to my islands. Do you remember what Kurama taught you about walking on water?”

* * *

Walking on a river was easy. Walking on a choppy sea was a completely different ordeal. Isobu chuckled as I fumbled for my footing after jumping over the crest of an incoming wave. “Work with the sea’s chakra, Sen, not against it. You’ll find that the sea is stubborn as it is mercurial. All you need to do is to adjust to its temperament. Tune yourself to the sea’s chakra, and bend to it. I think you’ll find that that would be much easier.”

Knitting my brow in concentration, I reached to the energy swirling beneath me. If the swamp felt calm, the sea felt fickle. It had twelve currents surging beneath my feet all at once. The wind whipped it far too easily, and it responded far too aggressively. The sea wanted to break into a storm.

“Don’t be afraid now,” Isobu said, drifting towards me to provide some moral support as I forged on over choppy water. “Trust your instincts, and listen to the chakra of the sea.”

I could feel a tug whenever a wave was going to break through the water’s surface. Tuning my senses to that, I was slowly able to swerve around waves, and stay on more amicable patches of water. “Good, good,” Isobu affirmed. “We’ll reach my islands in a moment, but for now, focus on tuning yourself to that feeling. It will make things much easier when I teach you how to properly swim.”

Just as twilight set over the stormy sea, Isobu and I finally made it to a secluded cove on an island. Not minding the falling rain, I promptly flopped down onto the wet beach to gasp for breath. Walking through the sea significantly drained my chakra. I could feel my tenketsu brimming with the chakra of the sea.

“I’m sorry for immediately putting through that trial by fire—or should I say trial by water?” Isobu sheepishly chuckled as he shrank to the size of a very large turtle. “I wanted to carry you on my back, but I… I don’t really like it when someone sits on my back.”

“No worries, Isobu,” I managed to gasp out. “Any… Any learning op… Opportunity,” I took a large gulp of air. “I… I welcome any and all lessons you can spare me,” I wheezed as I gave Isobu a little smile.

“And I don’t really like it when people touch the coral I grow, and it took so long to make such an elaborate ecosystem on my shell, so I really am sorry but I cannot let you on my back, even if I wanted to,” Isobu sheepishly said as he trained his gaze down at the beach.

“It really is quite alright Isobu,” I said after I finally managed to compote myself, and sit up. “I respect your boundaries, and I respect that you immediately set them.”

“Oh!” Isobu replied, “Thank you for your understanding, Sen. I really am sorry for not being able to give you a ride.”

“Again, Isobu, it is quite alright,” I said, now getting slightly miffed at the constant stream of apologies. “Now, why don’t we continue with our introductions from earlier. My name is Sen,” I said eager to change the topic.

“And I am Isobu Otsutsuki,” Isobu said as he sat in a more regal position, “Son of the Sage, Gardener of Reefs and Master of Many Waters. I believe those are all the titles the Sage gave me. Forgive me to be presumptuous, but you are an Otsutsuki as well now, Sen. Do not forget to mention your name lest Kurama vaporize a small nation,” Isobu chuckled.

“Well, I was quite surprised when Kurama insisted that I take on your family’s name.”

“Nonsense,” Isobu replied. “If you managed to make Kurama feel like you’re family, then you’re more than welcome to be a part of our family.”

“If I may ask, what made Kurama hate humanity so much anyway?”

Isobu’s face darknened. “Well,” He began. “We all suffered from the fallout of the Otsutsuki, but Kuu-nii suffered most of all. You see, the Sage was the closest thing we all had to a parent. He was our parent, and he left us. He could have very well left a chakra imprint to keep us company, but he left us. He left us and the universe won’t exactly give him back. We may be capable of feats hitherto undreamt of by your kind, but bringing back someone from the dead in a pure form from Samsara is not possible.

“After the Sage died, we looked to his children Indra and Ashura for some semblance of… Solace? Yes. We looked to them for help, and they only saw their fight between each other. Kurama tried to moderate one of their ‘peace talks’ once, but it ended… It ended very, very badly.

“Kurama was hurt. He was hurt that these humans which he loved so mindlessly lashed out at him. They didn’t care that he was practically their brother, they blindly followed each other to their deaths. Kurama never really was the same after that. The Sage gave him so much hope for humanity, and his children trampled it into the dust.

“He then left the Otsutsuki territories and claimed the forest where he lives as his home. He never really left it save for a few exceptions, but we were all afraid that he would stew in his hatred until the stars turned cold. Without him holding all of us together, we all went our separate ways.

“Shukaku razed a whole swath of land and made it into his dessert. Son decided to make the peninsula up in the northwest into a mountain range of volcanoes. Kokuo decided to settle in the grasslands between the mountains and Choumei’s forest. Choumei and their brood immediately closed off the forests right north of Kurama’s territory. Gyuuki and Matatabi set out to the mountains of the northeast, and Saiken and I—being the only water-based siblings—settled in the islands of the southeast.

“We haven’t seen each other in our physical forms in over two millennia since the first fight between Indra and Ashura. We have been occasionally meeting up in our shared mind-scape, but we didn’t see Kurama until very recently.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yes,” Isobu continued. “One day, Gyuuki, Saiken and I were meeting in our mindscape, when Kurama finally showed himself. He wanted to ask for our help teaching you how to use chakra. So, we were naturally all quite curious to meet the human that helped Kurama trust again.”

 _So that was why Kurama was so hesitant and doubtful at my friendship with Inari,_ I realized. _That was why the heart of the forest was blanketed in miasma, it was Kurama’s hate_.

All at once, both physical and emotional exhaustion flooded into me. So, I promptly flopped back back down on the sand, and stared into the expanse of grey-black clouds frothing overhead. “We really hit the ground—or, in this case—water, running didn’t we, Isobu?”

Deep emotions danced across Isobu’s single eye, “We really did, didn’t we?” With that, he gently placed his palm into the sand of the beach and coral immediately grew to form a sizable dome around me. “You may gather wood from the trees inland for a fire. This coral structure should provide a good shelter for weathering out tonight’s storm.”

With that, Isobu padded back towards the water. Giving me one last look, he slowly made his way back into the sea. “I look forward to teaching you how to swim tomorrow, we can start at sunrise. But, for now, stay warm and dry.” That was when the rain started to pour.

* * *

The morning after my arrival into—what I came to call Isobu’s archipelago—Isobu decided to give me a tour around the islands. But first, he guided me in further attuning my senses to the sea’s chakra. I thought that, like in the forest, it would just entail some sort of meditation. Needless to say, I was wrong.

“Sen, just stop breathing for a bit, and I swear this will make your life easier,” Isobu cheerfully said as he used one of his—miniature—tails to press me down into the shallows of the beach.

Resisting the weight, I burst out of the water gasping for air. “Isobu,” I wheezed, “Is there any better way I can acclimatize to the sea’s charka?”

“None that I can think of,” Isobu said, cheerfully using two of his tails to firmly secure me under water. “You see, the sea is temperamental, fickle and downright unpredictable. Thus, it is—by far—harsher than the forest’s chakra that you’re used to. All you need to do is to forcefully introduce your body’s tenketsu to acclimatize properly to the sea. That being said, please take a deep breath in.”

Oh what the hell, I told myself. I stopped resisting every urge to surface, and—following Isobu’s advice—I took a deep breath in. Water came flooding into my lungs and I could feel the distinct prickle of salt against the tenketsu beside my lungs. My throat constricted to try to stop water from flowing in, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly, I could feel a soft nudge right where my lungs were. Then, I could feel the water slowly trickle out of my body. A calm sensation filled my chest, and by some miracle, I was able to breathe. The weight on my chest vanished, and I frantically surfaced to find a cherry looking Isobu nodding in my direction.

“It is a little bit forceful, but I needed to acclimatize the tenketsu of your lungs to the chakra of the sea. I could not do that without letting the sea go into your lungs. You see, the chakra within the sea is a composite of earth chakra, wind chakra and—obviously—water chakra. The earth chakra is found within the salt, the water chakra is found—of course—in the water, and the air chakra is found in the select traces of air that lingers in the sea.

“By forcefully introducing your already very wide tenketsu to the sea’s chakra, I was able to let your lung’s tenketsu get attuned towards filtering the earth and water chakra out, while also keeping your wind chakra in. Now, you can probably take several breaths under water without the need to surface. With practice, I have no doubt that you can extend your physical tolerance to staying underwater for long periods of time.

“The nature of chakra is absolutely fascinating, no?” Isobu said as he finished rambling.

His eye widened in shock from what he saw. I always took pride in the fact that I still tried to look presentable even when living in the wild. It was hard, but I was able to whittle a comb to keep my hair from turning into an untamable mane. I took baths, I made sure to scrub my skin clean, and I took care of my nails as much as possible. But now, I must have looked like I jumped out of a B-grade horror movie.

Long black hair cascaded over my face, exposing feral eyes and a rasping voice. My mouth still coughed out bits of water, as I tried to regain sensation over my limbs. “Yes, indeed,” I wheezed out. “Chakra is fascinating.”

“It is, isn’t it?!” Isobu exclaimed as his shock was overcome by his glee. _Kurama was right, he is an egghead_ , I realized.

“Now that you’ve caught several breaths, I can move on to acclimatizing the tenketsu in your eyes and in your ears!”

“Shi—” I managed to make out before I was dunked back into the water.

* * *

“Now that we’ve finished with opening your tenketsu, I will teach you how to swim. Now, take a deep breath in, keep your eyes open and submerge.” With that, Isobu promptly lowered his head into the shallows and disappeared.

Breathing in the biggest breath I could muster, I pried my eyes open and delved into the shallows after Isobu. When I finally managed to adjust my eye’s tenketsu to shield my eyes—just as Isobu showed me—everything seemed to sharpen into focus. Every blade of sea grass was gently illuminated by the sunlight. The light itself seemed like translucent sheets that floated through the clear, blue-green water.

“Good,” I heard Isobu say as he swam across from me. “Now, if you want to sink just remember the feeling of when I buried you under the sand.”

I shuddered at the memory. It was not an entirely pleasant experience when Isobu dragged me out of the sea to proceed to bury me in the sand with all three of his tails. I suspect he was not used to dealing with humans all to often.

“Feel the sand’s chakra as well as the layers of stone beneath it. Feel it’s downwards pull, and tap into it whenever you want to sink. Remember, keep on cycling your breath’s chakra in and out of your lungs if you want to stay under water longer. But, I take care of how you resurface. You might rupture your lungs if you don’t acclimatize to the lighter pressure of the water near the surface and…”

I gave Isobu a fervent nod. “Oh dear, I seem to be rambling again, aren’t I?”

With that, Isobu started on his grand tour of the entire archipelago.

* * *

Over the next several days, Isobu would patiently swim by my side as we swam through the sea around his archipelago. He would always diligently point out the quirks of each island we passed.

“Shoals of tuna and other more open-sea fish always seem to gather around this island. There are some seasons of the year where entire schools of tuna arrive.

“This island is incredibly interesting. There seems to be an abundance of sea-snakes that find their homes, nestled in the nooks and crannies of the underwater cave system. I suspect that the island is quite warm all year round, so quite a bit of snakes congregate here during the colder seasons.

“Oh, I put quite a lot of care into growing this kelp forest. I was afraid that the seals of this island could not find suitable food sources, and I remembered that—in the colder regions of the northern oceans—there would be forests of kelp where seals would hunt, so I planted the forest around the island. You may harvest some kelp if you like. I feel that I might have gone a little too overboard when I was making the forest, and I might have planted too much kelp stalks.

“The sun always manages to shine light around this particular island, which is why so many sharks crowd around it. Of course, the local sardine population that lives quite near here provides a tasty incentive for the sharks. But, they more often than not like to lounge around the shallow waters here, soaking up the sun.

“If you swim out into the stretch of sea between those two islands, you’ll find that an entire pod of dolphins live there! I’ll take you to them when a storm passes by. It is quite an experience to leap out of the sea with them while a storm rages overhead.

After several days of touring around the archipelago, Isobu decided that it was time to show me his favorite part of the islands. “This is my masterpiece,” Isobu said, proudly as he ushered me forward. “I spent a great deal of time collecting coral polyps from each sea around the continent. I spent even more time growing them into their biggest sizes. I have to say, I really outdid myself with this one.”

With a flourish, Isobu revealed a reef that seemed to stretch into the far-flung edges of the deep blue sea. Everywhere I looked, there was a different pop of color. Red, towering structures of coral loomed over huge, brain corals. Table coral hid shoals of small, colorful fish. Anemone absentmindedly swayed in the idyllic pace of the current. 

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed out. I had grown comfortably proficient at speaking under water now. Isobu deemed it wise to acclimatize the tenketsu of my vocal chords and throat to the sea’s chakra after I had been caught off guard when Isobu cracked a joke. Needless to say, Isobu had to whack my chest with one of his tails to expel all the water I had breathed in when I laughed.

“It really is,” He replied, with his eye crinkling into a smile. “You are welcome to visit as much as you want, but please take care not to touch the coral.”

* * *

“Thank you for showing me your garden today, Isobu,” I said as I roasted a tuna over the campfire I set up on the beach.

“You’re quite welcome, Sen,” Isobu said as he settled himself into the sand across me. “Thank you for being so generous with your complements over my hobby.”

“I think your gardening isn’t just a hobby, Isobu—you’ve made it into an art form.”

“Why, thank you, Sen,” Isobu said with his eye shining with happiness. I could see that there was a slight blush around the green of Isobu's cheeks as well. 

“Well, I think it is about time to earn my keep for your lessons and for showing me your masterpiece of gardening. Tell me, what kinds of stories are you partial to?” I asked.

Isobu’s eye widened. “I’ve been waiting for this,” He muttered, under his breath before answering me. “I know Kuu-nii is more partial to action-packed stories, I think I’m more partial to adventure stories.”

“Hmm, then did Kurama tell you about the story of the Siege of the Walled City I told him awhile back?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, he did! It was a riveting tale.”

“Did you know that someone made a continuation of the story through the eyes of one of the generals of the Walled City?”

“Oh?”

“Yes! It’s a continuation, of sorts, about how one of the generals of the walled city brought his countrymen across the perilous sea, and how they made a home for themselves in a foreign land.”

“I would very much like to hear this continuation,” Isobu said with his eye burning with curiosity.

“Very well then,” I said as I took a sip out of my water-pouch. “We begin with the siege of the Walled City.”

“Oh, you dolts! Why don’t you listen to your priest?” Isobu hissed. “That horse is too good to be true!”

I smiled as I continued on, describing the wooden horse—filled to the brim with enemy soldiers—being carted into the innermost parts of the city. 

Isobu gasped as I described the sack of the city and the death of the King. “What brutes! What fiends!” He fumed as the spines on the edge of his tails bristled.

“‘Are you insane?’ The kings wife cried, ‘Poor husband, what impels you to strap that sword on now? Why are you rushing? Too late for such defense, such help. Not even my own son, if he came to the rescue now… Come to me, my King. This altar will shield us all or else you’ll die with us’”

“Oh, please listen to your wife…” Isobu muttered.

“He dragged the old man straight to the altar, quaking, slithering on through slicks of his son’s blood, and twisting the King’s hair in his left hand, his right hand sweeping forth his sword—a flash of steel—he buries it hilt-deep in the king’s flank.”

“No!” Isobu gasped. “How horrible!”

 _Oh, if he thought that that was horrible, he was in for quite a ride,_ I smirked to myself as I continued on.

“So it was the general’s wife’s ghost who he saw. She had passed when the city fell,” Isobu said with sadness tinging his voice.

“Take hope!” I said, with an encouraging tone. “The story is far from over.” _Isobu's little audio commentary is quite amusing_ , I thought to myself, _just like Kurama's snide remarks_. I was briefly taken by a bout of homesickness, missing Kurama, Inari and the other foxes. _Well, absence does make the heart grow fonder._

“’Hear me, turn your power my way, attend my sorrows—I deserve your mercy—hear my prayers! If that curse of the earth must reach his heaven, labor on to landfall—If the King of the Gods and the Fates command, let him be plagued in war by a nation proud in arms, torn from his borders, let him grovel for help and watch is people die a shameful death! Then, once he has bowed down to an unjust peace, may he never enjoy his realm and the light he yearns for, nevr, let him die before this day, unburied on some desolate beach!

“’That is my prayer, my final cry—I pour it out with my own lifeblood. And you, my People, harry with hatered all his line, his race to come…’”

“That queen reminds me of Matatabi,” Isobu muttered under his breath. “Both beautiful and terrible.”

“I’ve never remembered there to be rivers of fire in Yomi…” Isobu whisper with a quirked brow.

“Call it artistic license,” I whispered back, shaking him out of his reverie. It was particularly hard to find the equivalent phrase to describe the Underworld. But, Hashirama’s dictionary helped a great deal with my efforts to translate the epic.

“Oh my,” Isobu gasped, “That is one, big army.”

“Indeed,” I replied. I was barely halfway through describing all of the army’s units.

“The coward! He is no general! No general flees from their troops when they’re locked in battle!” Isobu yelled. “If the battle hinges on your honor, you must fight—one on one!”

 _Oh boy_ , I said to myself. _It looked like he was really feeling the story._

“My, my. There are quite a lot of people Matatabi would like to befriend in this story, isn’t there?” Isobu whispered as I described the waves of soldiers felled by the fierce warrior-general, blessed by the Goddess of Hunters. “I hope she survives.”

“So they did it,” Isobu said as I finished the epic. The first light of dawn was peaking over the horizon, and the tuna’s bones were all but licked clean beside the remains of the camp fire. “They fought and won for their new home.”

“Yes,” I replied, still a little bit breathless from pouring my energy into the description of the final battle between generals.

“I’ve learned that—as long as you’re still willing—you can always make a home for yourself wherever you are. Be it in a forest, or in the middle of the sea, you can always hollow out a space just for you. In many ways, we both did this, isn’t it?” I asked as I looked at Isobu—who seemed to be lost in thought.

“Indeed,” Isobu replied, his eye shining with resolute clarity. “We’ve made good homes for ourselves, haven’t we?”

As dawn finally broke, and rays of sunlight lit up the still murky sea, I smiled. I smiled as I fondly remembered Kurama and Inari—my dear family, my home, nestled deep in the forest. “We really did, Isobu,” I replied, ready for the new day ahead.

* * *

The sound of metal striking metal filled the air as shinobi descended into a rocky clearing just outside Kurama's forest. Hashirama and Madara jumped to meet each other in the middle of the fray. In an instant, Madara's eyes bled red as he breathed out a sea of flame. Not to be outdone, Hashirama dug his fingers into the ground to sprout a wall of trees to buffer the flame. 

"Hashirama can never seem to get the upper hand these days," Senju Itama muttered as he broke into a shunshin to intercept a squadron of Uchiha that was closing into the left flank of the Senju force. 

After his father left, Tobirama's lips curled into a smirk. Sen's plan is working. _The stalemate that the two blockheads have going on is driving the clan elders crazy. Now where is that pest?_ With that, Tobirama sensed the familiar spike of Izuna's chakra and dove into the fighting to meet his 'rival'. 

As Tobirama met Izuna's kunai with his short sword, he managed to slip a message into the folds of Izuna's robe. The two had been carrying out a correspondence with each other every time they met the other in battle. The correspondence was mostly to keep the other informed with the number of casualties that came out of the previous battles. Due to Hashirama and Madara's insistence to try out Sen's advice, both clans had seen a decrease in deaths. It took some time, but Tobirama was confident that the number of casualties could be whittled down to the single digits with their continuous intervention. 

This letter, however, was different. Tobirama—after months of badgering and moping—managed to convince his father to let him into the older records that the clan had with the conflict between them and the Uchiha. After days of sifting through documents past their bedtime, Hashirama and Tobirama finally found the oldest record that started the beginning of their conflict. It was the murder of the daughter of the 2nd Clan Head of the Senju, Senju Asumi, at the hand of Uchiha Kikuomi. Tobirama wanted to cross-reference the murder with Izuna's clan records. 

With this, we can get to the beginning of the conflict between our two clans—he thought before he felt a nauseatingly dense mass of chakra that appeared at the edge of the forest. 

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A low voice purred. Every shinobi promptly stopped what they were doing to focus on the new threat that appeared on the battlefield. With fur the color of amber and nine-flaring tails, the Kyuubi towered over the battlefield.

After surveying the battlefield with piercing, yellow eyes, Kurama trained his gaze towards Hashirama and Madara before breaking the silence. "I thought Sen told you not to come near the forest with your petty squabble?" 

Senju Butsuma and Uchiha Tajima sputtered in indigence at their centuries-long war being called a squabble, before realizing who was talking. "In a show of good faith towards Sen, I'll give you ten seconds to leave this place and never come back. If I so much as sense the chakra of any one of you worms within a ri of the forest, I'll vaporize you." 

Reclining back, Kurama took a breath and drawled out, "Ooonnnneee..." Most of the combatants were still frozen with the sheer shock of seeing the Kyuubi, but they soon regained their faculties when Kurama let out his killing intent, and smiled. It was like Tobirama's stomach tried to wring out his breakfast. Seeing the Kyuubi's smile was like looking into an open grave. With that, all of the shinobi broke into a mad dash to run from the battlefield. 

After everyone had left, Kurama let out a contented huff. "I still got it," He earnestly whispered as he trotted back into the forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so, so sorry that the update was so late!!! my house internet kinda died for a period of time, so i really could not update the fic as much as i would have liked to. i also joined my school's registration committee—because my uni is going to fully adopt online classes—and i had to spend quite a lot of time helping and answering disgruntled students with their questions about enlisting into classes. 
> 
> but now, i have some time before uni classes start, so i will try my best to catch up with the chapters that i did not manage to post during the past 10 days of craziness.
> 
> also, to my timeline, because Hashirma and Madara heeded Sen's warning to stay out of the forest, Itama never encountered the Uchiha platoon that killed him! so—in this story—itama is not dead.
> 
> a note on the ages of the characters:  
> sen - 9 1/2  
> madara & hashirama - 10 1/2   
> izuna & tobirama - 9 1/2


	6. Stories from the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, two very important people notice our hero.

“Isobu,” I said as I finished thatching a palm frond mat for my little coral hut. “Do you know if there is a human settlement anywhere near here?”

Isobu hummed in thought. “I think there was one… Yes! There was—or rather—there still might be a human settlement on an island off the coast of the main land. They are rather brutish though, running their ships over my reefs.” I immediately winced. _Those poor, unfortunate souls_.

“I gave them quite the thrashing though,” Isobu said with a flare of pride.

“What did you do?”

“I destroyed half of their island with a tsunami I made.”

“Oh.”

“Then, I razed all of their fisheries with whirlpools. I think I might have overdone that though, when I passed the island some years back, those whirlpools were still there—steadfastly churning on. May I ask why you’re curious about the human settlement?”

“Well,” I fidgeted, “I really want to see if I can buy some books.”

“Oh! You mean those reams of bound paper you carry around?” Isobu asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “I think I’ve re-read these around twenty times already,” I said as I picked up the now well-worn books that Hashirama gave me.

“Hmmm,” Isobu hummed again. “Do you think that humans still accept bartering goods?”

“I think so.”

“Well then, I can show you where to catch some fish to exchange for some goods. While you’re at it, you can probably harvest some of the kelp as well. The forest has been getting rather unruly as of late…”

“Thank you so much, Isobu!” I said as I leapt to hug him.

“Oh, nonsense,” Isobu chuckled as he patted my back with one of his tails. “There’s always more fish than I know what to do with, anyway. And besides, I think you should learn how to landscape.”

“Chakra is life, and life is chakra. Never forget that the two are one and the same,” Isobu said as he dropped a piece of coral into my hand.

“Now, focus. Feel the mixture of nature chakra within the coral. Tell me what you see.”

At this point, Isobu had deemed my swimming skills adequate enough to stay underwater for nearly two hours, so our lessons had become significantly longer. Humming in affirmation, I felt a great amount of earth chakra in the little, brittle piece of coral. I could feel that there was a mixture of water and air chakra in the coral as well, and absolutely no fire or lightning chakra in it.

“Once you’ve felt the coral’s earth chakra, gently place the branch into the sand.” I did as Isobu instructed. “Now, slightly tune your chakra to the coral’s earth chakra, and give it little nudge of your own chakra into the coral.” Following Isobu, I tried to make my internal chakra as grounded as possible, and I let it slowly trickle out of my tenketsu, through the water and into the coral.

“Now, watch it grow,” Isobu said with relish, as the little branch of coral bloomed. It wedged itself tightly in the sand and shot into a spire upward. I could feel my internal chakra being sapped out of me as the coral grew and grew into a sizable spire.

“Sen, stop your chakra output,” Isobu gently said. “Remember, you need some of that chakra for yourself.”

Shaken out of my reverie, I shut my tenketsu as fast as possible and freed my hands from the sand. “Now, this should be a good practice for your chakra control,” Isobu said as he gave me a heap of other bits and pieces of coral. “After you finish growing these, I can show you where you can catch some tuna.”

* * *

Sachihiro Hatake, after much deliberation, arrived to the conclusion that Hatake were—by no means—not a sea faring clan. Currently, he found himself stricken with a bout of very strong sea-sickness as a chartered boat brought him, his father: Sozu, and his brother: Horen, to the port of Uzushio after finishing a mercenary contract in the Land of Water.

Horen had passed out of exhaustion when they boarded the ship. Father pushed him quite a lot this mission, Sachihiro thought, as he saw his brother slightly shift in his sleep. His father, Sozu, cut an imposing figure as he stood at the prow of the boat, scanning the horizon.

“Sachihiro,” Sozu barked, “Secure the rudder, and remove the sails. There is a storm looming over the horizon.”

Sighing, Sachihiro stood up from where he was resting, and lept to the mast to do his father’s bidding. _He didn’t want to disturb Horen_ , Sachihiro thought as he brought down the sail. Looking out to the horizon, he could see the mainland, but it was still a ways away. Looming over the small boat, storm clouds churned with the promise of heavy rain.

Sachihiro spared a moment to smell the sea breeze, when he felt a drop of rain hit his face. The rain started as a simple pitter patter, but after a minute, it was as if the sky ripped open. Gales ripped over the open water, summoning waves out of the deep, blue sea, their foaming crests threatened to overturn the ship.

Hearing his father bark another order, Sachihiro mustered as much chakra as he could as he called a harsh wind to beat back the waves. He regretted his sudden expenditure of chakra, as he lost his footing on the mast and fell to the deck. Bracing himself for the impact of wood against his back, Sachihiro closed his eyes. But, to his surprise, he felt that he was caught.

Opening his eyes, he saw the untamed mass of his brother’s white hair whipping about in the wind, matched with a disappointed glare and an impressive scowl. “Idiot,” Horen said as he chucked Sachihiro to the deck. “You couldn’t even let me rest,” He grumbled as he took Sachihiro’s place, beating back the waves.

Turning, he came face to face with his father. Sachihiro immediately grimaced at the sight of his father’s face. It was like him and his brother were taking a masterclass in giving disappointed looks. “Go,” His father said with a cutting, severe voice. “Rest below deck, you are of no use to us if you carelessly spend your charka.”

Trudging back below deck, Sachihiro felt the weight of his family’s disappointment mixing with the uncomfortable feeling of cold water. It felt like he was getting weighed down. Growling in frustration, he threw the tanto strapped across his back to the ground, promptly collapsing on the hardwood floor.

 _Well, there’s no use moping. I have to help father and nii-san_ , He thought to himself as he propped himself against the wall to meditate. He focused on the clear heat of his internal chakra. Drawing the chakra out of his system, he coated himself in a thin layer of chakra to keep warm.

Methodically, he breathed in and out, slowly expanding the charka from a skintight layer over his body, to a small bubble around the room. Channeling his energy, he breathed in and out, drawing more and more chakra out of his system. He could feel his chakra bubble, standing its ground against the massive force of nature chakra propelling the storm forward.

But, as he drew himself deeper into his meditative state, he noticed a single flicker of someone’s chakra in the middle of the tempest. Immediately, his eyes opened, and he rushed to the window to look for the source of the mysterious chakra.

 _Strange,_ he thought, _The chakra doesn’t seem like the person is in distress—so they must not be drowning. Still, what if they need help?_ Focusing his chakra around his eyes, he scanned the foaming sea, following the source of the charka.

Squinting, he could see someone in the distance. Finally, Sachihiro said to himself as he narrowed down his field of vision even further to see what the person was doing. He could not help but stare at what he saw.

A child, that didn’t look much older than he did, seemed to dance over the stormy water. While vaulting over waves and skirting through the sea spray, the child was pulling a thin line of chakra. A sizable turtle was bobbing up and down beside the child—seemingly egging their effort on.

The kid’s hair was whipping in the wind. It was strangely enchanting for Sachihiro to watch. Long, black, lustrous hair being tossed about in the gales, framing a slight face, smiling with determination. With a furrowed brow, the kid heaved the string and a sizable tuna burst out of the water, only for the turtle to deftly leap out of the water to catch it with its limbs.

“Sachihiro!” He heard his father shout, “You’ve rested enough, It’s time to work.”

Sachihiro only had to blink before the black haired child vanished underneath the stormy water, along with the turtle and the tuna. Rubbing his eyes, he felt as though the storm was playing tricks on him. Grimacing at the thought of going back to work, he sighed and stood up—his chakra reserves were now adequately rested.

He took one last look out into the expanse of choppy waves fettered by thundering rain, before he climbed back up deck where his father and brother were.

* * *

Mito was tired. She was tired and exhasperated as she stood behind her mother as she saw an incredibly chaotic meeting taking place between the clan heads of Uzushio. The Sumijire clan were out of squid ink for their seals. This, in itself, presented a precarious problem for the entire population of Uzushio.

Seals were in their blood, and if they didn’t have ink for their seals, they were rendered useless. This, along with the constant raids from the clans of the Land of Water as well as the Land of Lightning put Uzushio on the ropes.

“What I am saying, respectable elder,” Yuu Sumijire said. “Is that we cannot rely on those barbarians from Water to source ink. The last shipment was subpar.”

“Well, what I am saying back to you, junior councilman,” Taemon Nejire said back. “Is that you should find another person willing to lend you their ships if you want to kill yourselves over ink.”

Mito’s grandmother: Mariko, sighed, placing her well-worn hands onto the surface of the table. “Now, now, Mon-chan, don’t be too huffy. Yuu-chan is just starting out his duties as a member of the council. But, Yuu-chan,” She said as she fixed her gaze at the young man, “It would do you well to remember how several generation’s worth of ships were destroyed when we decided to pass the Sanbi’s territory.”

The room lulled into a chilly quiet as the older council members recoiled in horror as they collectively remembered that fateful day. It was supposed to be a simple supply run, so they had skirted the outermost parts of the Sanbi’s territory in a bid to bypass the whirlpools that plagued the channels back to Uzushio.

But, all it took was one ship getting stuck in a reef when the Sanbi burst out of the water. Leveling its one, yellow eye at the Uzushio fleet, it charged—immediately barreling through several of their ships. It had taken the concentrated effort of all of the clans present just to flee the scene.

As the rest of the ships started to reverse their course, the Sanbi summoned down a storm that broke through from the heavens and churned the sea into a violent froth. The Uzumaki elders had used every jutsu in their arsenal to call the wind, sea and lighting to act as a buffer against the Sanbi’s relentless advance—but it was to no avail. Their actions only made the Sanbi more angry.

It had then started to impale other ships with jagged spires of coral. The sickening splintering of wood against the Sanbi’s onslaught filled the air as waves lapped up and consumed the remains of their ships. Mariko could not help but wince at the memory of having to haul Taemon out of the water as they were escaping from the Sanbi.

The Nejire clan were Uzushio’s best shipwrights, and to see the fleet that was built over generations be broken in an hour broke Taemon’s heart. “No,” He huffed. “I will never, ever condemn any ship to go do a blasted supply run near that beast’s territory ever again.”

“Then how can we write?” Yuu yelled. “How can we seal? If you have any idea, please, Nerjire-sama, we’d like to hear it.”

Just before Taemon was about to yell back, the head of the Umino clan: Itsuki Umino, raised his hand and cleared his throat. “Esteemed clansmen,” He said, with clarity ringing through his voice. “I think I might have a solution to our problem.”

Mariko’s eyebrows raised. “Oh? Well then, please proceed Tsuki-chan.”

“Well, as of late, the gatekeepers have been buying some incredibly good produce from a child lately.” Everyone quirked their eyebrows in confusion.

“You mean to tell me that they were engaging in trade with an outsider?” Mariko said with a somber tone.

“Oh no, no,” Itsuki said. “The youth told them that he lived quite close to the reef, so I assure you that the child is from the Land of Whirlpools.”

“Very well then, carry on,” Mariko said as she swished her sleeve.

“Yes, well… Naturally, I had to inspect the produce that the child was selling, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the child’s products. I exchanged two sea breams, several saury and an impressive flounder along with a bushel of kelp for dashi several days ago.”

“And what, pray tell, did you exchange the fish with?”

“Nothing much, Mariko-hime. The youth just asked me for books in return for the fish. We even managed to strike a bargain. I could commission the child to catch something in return for books.”

“A literate fisherman,” Mariko laughed. “We certainly don’t see that every day.”

Chuckling, Itsuki continued. “Novelty aside, I think we could commission the child to catch some squid for us from the open water. That should solve our problems without needing to send any ships, or supply runs.”

“I would very much like to meet this literate fisherman,” Mariko said, with a devious glimmer in her eyes.

“As a matter of fact, I think the gatekeepers said that he would arrive today.”

Mito was now thoroughly intrigued. It was quite rare for someone of common birth to be able to read, so she followed her grandmother as she set a brisk pace, walking towards the main gate as she chatted with the Umino clan head. The rest of the council trailed behind her as they went along the winding roads of Uzushio.

As they neared the gate, Mito saw a little crowd gathered around someone. The crowd immediately parted to make way for her grandmother as she walked towards the boy seated on a woven mat with fish spread before him.

“Mariko-hime, Mito-hime, we are honored with your presence,” The civilians bowed, as they greeted her grandmother. Following suit, the child stood up and gave the princesses a bow of their own.

“So you are the literate fisherman that I’ve heard so much about?” Mariko asked the child.

“Well, I would not say that I am fully literate yet, your grace,” The child said with an embarrassed blush. “I am presently trying to learn all of my kanji.”

Mito was impressed. The child certainly didn’t talk like a fisherman, and it looked like the child was familiar with formal speech. However, the speech patterns weren’t what caught her grandmother’s ear. It was their accent.

“You are not of the islands, aren’t you?”

“Well, I am currently living amongst the islands, but no—I hail from a different land.”

“And where do you hail from?”

“The forests inland, your grace.”

“Then what are you doing here, so far from home?”

The child remained silent for a short moment before answering. “Well, your grace, the conflict inland has been increasing as of late. So, my guardian set me out on a journey around the continent to visit my relatives.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, your grace.”

“Well, since you seem astute enough, I have a business proposition for you.”

“How would I be of service, your grace?” The child said, their tone remaining steady.

“I need you to catch quite a number of squid, we need new ink you see,” Mariko said. “If you would be so kind as to catch a hundred squid or so, we could compensate you for your services with a case of books to further your studies.”

The boy’s eyes twinkled at the mention of the compensation he was given. “Thank you for your generosity your grace, but if you could indulge a question of mine, how many squid for a book? Do you have an exact rate of exchange? Or is it determined by the size. And what type of squid would you want me to catch? Could you draft a contract for the order?”

Mito was rather caught off guard with all of the questions the boy had. It seemed like everyone was, really. The curiosity in her grandmother’s eyes shone even brighter. _You look like a fisherman, yet you do not talk nor think like a fisherman. What are you?_ Mariko’s expression seemed to say.

“Yuu-chan,” Mariko said. “Draft a contract please and give it to the boy.” Turning back her gaze to the fisherman, she continued, “If you could complete the order within a month, that would be most appreciated.”

“I will endeavor to complete it posthaste, your grace,”

Smiling, Mariko turned on her heel to walk back into the village. “It appears the solution of our problem was right at our very doorstep.” Mito followed suit as the rest of the council headed back into the village. As she entered Uzushio, she could see that the crowd was still gathered around the boy while he was rolling up the mat he was sitting on.

“Obaa-sama may I be relieved of my duties today?” She asked as she gestured back towards the gate.

“I suppose you have had enough of your obligations fulfilled today,” Mariko said as she gave Mito a fond smile. “Be back in the palace by sundown, and do not leave the village grounds—I will know if you do.”

Returning a smile to her grandmother, Mito dashed from the council entourage as she made her way back to the entrance. As she approached the gate, the crowd and the boy were long gone.

* * *

Things had become markedly quiet in the Uchiha compound after the Kyuubi had interrupted one of their battles with the Senju. Most warriors were still reeling in a state of shell shock from the fact that they had survived the Kyuubi. Madara and Izuna were reeling for a different reason. 

"I hugged the Kyuubi," Izuna said to no one in particular as they sat slack jawed in front of their breakfast table. "Nii-san, I hugged the Kyuubi..."

Madara was in a similar state of disbelief as he added, "And the Kyuubi called our eyes 'freaky'." 

As he made his way back to their house, Madara chuckled in disbelief. _So that was the master of the forest Sen was talking about_ , Madara thought to himself. _No wonder Sen told us to avoid the forest at all cost._

"Izuna," Madara hollered, "I'm home, come and help me carry these sacks of rice." 

"Can't," Izuna hollered back. "Besides, nii-san, you're more than capable of carrying those sacks of rice yourself." Madara could not help but scoff at that as he sighed and brought the ten sacks of rice into the house. 

"Where are you?" Madara shouted. 

"Record room," Came Izuna's curt answer. 

Their record room was not really just a room, it was a small building in and of itself. It was located at the east wing of the house, and had three levels. The ground floor being for the clan's accounts and finances along with the relatively minor documents. The basement was sealed and warded to high heaven and low hell—it contained all of the Uchiha jutsu scrolls that the clan had been amassing since the age of Ashura and Indra. The second floor kept the clans genealogies and family lists. It was also where Izuna had holed himself up for the past few days. 

When Madara entered the family record room, he was greeted with an interesting sight. Izuna looked both stressed and bewildered, with dark rings under his eyes making him look like a tanuki. Documents were scattered around the room like a tornado had laid waste to their records. "What are you doing, otouto?" Madara asked, incredulous. 

"It doesn't make any sense," Izuna muttered to himself. 

"What doesn't make any sense?" 

"This!" Izuna said as he lurched towards a well worn letter. "According to Tobirama's records, the oldest recorded conflict between the Uchiha and the Senju was when the daughter of the Second Clan Head of the Senju: Senju Asumi, was murdered at the hands of Uchiha Kikuomi." 

"Well, have you thought of looking for our ancestor's name then?" Madara snarked. 

"That's the thing, nii-san. I've been pouring through every record in this room for five days straight, and not once have I found any Uchiha Kikuomi. I've found an Uchiha Kiyoomi, I've found an Uchiha Omimi, but I haven't found that dammed Kikuomi anywhere." 

Now that was—indeed—strange, Madara thought as he listened to Izuna rattling off any and every Uchiha that had some variation of 'Kiku' or 'Omi' in their name since the founding of the clan. The Uchiha had impeccably kept their genealogies since the the era of Indra's leadership. "I'll help you," Madara said as he sat across Izuna, picking up the nearest document he could reach for. "Maybe you missed something." 

Izuna gave out an indignant wheeze. "Me? Missed something? I can tell you the exact genealogy of every Uchiha since Indra-sama's progeny and there is no Uchiha Kikuomi."

After a complete night of using the sharingan to memorize every document in the room, Madara collapsed onto the tatami of the floor. He was tired, exasperated and quite frankly, confused. Indeed, Uchiha Kikuomi did not exist. It felt like they were searching for a ghost. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so, so sorry for not updating this sooner. online classes have started in earnest, so expect that the updates will not be as frequent anymore. on the flip side, i'm so happy to introduce sachihiro and mito to the mix! hiro really, really will become a ball of hatake angst later on (as all hatake eventually experience) he really needs a hug. can i also add, boy you about to get whipped as heck in several chapters. also, it was super fun to write the uchiha-senju conspiracy.


	7. Our Hero Sets Off to Into the Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero finally leaves the safety of the open sea and the closed reefs in order to travel to the Isles of Mist. They then bid good bye to several fast friends in order to meet another one of Kurama's siblings.

“Do you have everything?” Isobu asked for the fourth time that morning.

“Yes, Isobu. I have everything ready,” I replied as I hoisted up my rucksack, now heavy with books. For the better part of a year, I was in close contact with Uzushio, trading raw materials from the sea for books. They never gave any jutsu formula, but they did give quite the selection of books.

_“We are a fairly insular nation,” Mito said, one afternoon as I was shucking some oysters for us to eat._

_I just had to let out an amused snort at that. “Fairly insular, you say?” I said with a quirked eyebrow._

_“Oh, just a tad bit,” Mito replied with a cheeky grin._

_After meeting with the Council of Uzushio, I was promptly dragged into the city and exposed to a battery of questioning headed by one very cantankerous Nejire clan head. For a full night of ‘security vetting’, all I could hear was: ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Are you allied with any clans?’ being shouted in my ear. It was not a pleasant experience, and Isobu had not taken kindly to my overnight questioning._

_“I ought to finish my work and sink that blasted island into the sea.”_

_“It’s quite alright Isobu,” I nervously said. “There is no need to sink anyone at all.”_

From that point onwards, Isobu had gotten rather high-strung about my well-being, never straying too far from my general location, always fussing over the tiniest inconvenience. When I summoned Inari to tell Kurama of my situation, Inari had promptly returned with Kurama saying: “He’s a turtle. They like to feel secure.” Now, as I was preparing to set out, Isobu was fussing over me once more—running me through a checklist of my belongings for the fifth time.

“Oh, please do remember to keep on meditating in the sea,” Isobu fussed. “You’re still going to live around salt water, so I would hate to hear that you’ve drowned.”

“Don’t worry Isobu,” I sighed. “I promise that I will religiously follow your chakra training exercises every day.” To that, Isobu breathed out a sigh of relief.

“But still, whatever the case, be careful out there. You are traveling to a particularly violent cluster of islands. Humans in those stretches of the sea tend to be as barbaric as sharks frenzied by blood. Though, I have no doubt that you will be well taken care of.”

“Well then, shall we away?” I said as I tightened my grip on my backpack.

* * *

Over the better part of the year, I had graduated from being ‘barely adequate’ to ‘fairly good’ with my water walking. Though, that did not stop Isobu from critiquing me on my form. “Don’t fight against the eddies, move with them. They will carry you further with less energy,” Isobu said as I sprinted over the noontime sea. 

By now, it was a familiar sensation of feeling the push and pull of the water underneath my feet. The wind whipped through my hair as I ran over the water. “You’re using too much force when you propel your feet,” Isobu continued to say, as he swam beside me. “Remember, if you tune your chakra to the water’s you can decrease the ripples that you make.”

Isobu had made swimming into an art form, really. His army-green shell barely churned any water in his wake. In fact, he barely needed to move at all, with him just occasionally propelling himself forward with a short burst of chakra. “Just keep on practicing every day, and you will get better,” Isobu absentmindedly said.

“Now, there is an island just one knot away from where we are now. You can take a short rest there before you continue your final leg towards your destination.”

In a short while, I finally collapsed on the beach of the little island. I was fully drenched in sweat with a heaving chest. Isobu, on the other hand, contentedly paddled up onto the beach. “Now, you go rest for about half an hour, and then we can continue on. In the meantime, I shall be informing Kuu-nii about your progress.” With that, Isobu withdrew into his shell to delve into the bijuu psyche.

Sighing, I waded into the sea to wash the sweat off my body. Underwater, I drifted off into quite a comforting haze, allowing myself to take in the tide’s chakra. It really had become a comforting sensation at this point, feeling the sea and all its currents of energy swirl around me. But, after losing myself in a reverie, I failed to notice the sea’s chakra ebb to the pace of a ship landing on the beach.

Hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me out of the water, shaking me out of my reverie. “Sen!” A voice shouted with uncharacteristic gruffness. “Are you alright?” Wrenching my eyes open, I was greeted with the sobering sight of Councilman Taemon Nejire’s face staring straight at me. The old shipwright violently shook me before depositing me onto the sand.

“Was he drowning?” I heard someone say over me. Given the relatively young and nasal voice, it was probably the voice of Councilman Yuu Sumijire.

“He was in the water, and his internal chakra was practically depleted. Figure it out,” Came the gruff reply.

“Will he be alright?” Asked a worried voice. I could recognize that cultured voice anywhere, it was Mito.

“I am just fine, thank you,” I said, as I sat up.

“No ‘yer not,” Nejire huffed. “What were you doing under there? Trying to kill ‘yerself?”

“I was taking a short nap.”

“Underwater,” Sumijire unhelpfully added.

“I have so many questions,” Mito said, to no one in particular.

“Well, Mito-hime, I’m sure we answer them all over a light snack. Sen-chan looks like they need some food,” Nejire-san said.

“But before the interrogation begins,” Sumijire interrupted. “I think you might want to dry off and, you know… Put on some clothes.” I could feel a blush blooming across my face as the three onlookers averted their gaze.

“So,” Sumijire said over our impromptu lunch. “What in the world were you doing half-drowned while nude?”

“As I said earlier, I was just… Taking a short rest,” I managed to grit out. I was still tired from making my way to the island, and I really did not appreciate the constant badgering of Sumijire’s questions.

“But, what were you resting from?”

“Well, as of now, I am formally leaving for the Isles of the Mist.”

“Wait, just a moment. Then, how did you manage to travel this far?” Nejire sputtered.

“I walked.”

“Forgive me for my rudeness, but you barely have any chakra stores, how were you able to water-walk this far?” Mito interrupted.

“Well, I just moved with the sea.”

“That is non answer if I ever heard one,” Mito replied, with narrowed eyes.

“I just used the sea’s chakra,” Was all I replied with, much to the chagrin of the Uzushio natives.

“How?” Sumijire incredulously asked. “Using nature chakra is highly dangerous. People have died trying to harness it safely in their bodies.”

“Training accident.”

“What do you mean, _training accident_?” Mito asked, still trying to wring me for details.

Giving her my best deadpan face, I replied with a cryptic, “It is what it is.”

“Remember who you’re talking to, brat,” Nejire gruffly said. “But Mito-hime, you might want to stop asking so many questions. Sen here seems to be greatly tired, and their patience looks to be fraying little by little.” Mito gave a short blush and ducked her head in acknowledgement to Nejire’s recommendation, but that did not stop Sumijire from talking.

“But why are you going to the Isles of Mist? I thought you were staying with family near Uzushio.”

“As I have said, many times before, I am journeying through the continent in order to visit my family,” I said, with my tone becoming more passive aggressive by the minute. “I’ve currently finished my stay with my family in the Sea of Whirlpools, so the next stop in my journey would be with my family in the Isles of Mist.”

“That sounds mighty stupid of you,” Sumijire replied. “I don’t need to remind you of the state those isles are in right now.”

Grimacing, I remembered all of the horror stories that I had heard on Uzushio’s wharfs about the inhabitants of those islands. Cannibals they said. Child killers, blood suckers and people who filed their teeth down to a point roamed about, shrouded in mists. Apparently, since the age of the Sage, people from those islands were constantly fighting with each other—and they just never stopped.

“Well, I will be sure to stay on my toes then,” I replied with definitive resoluteness in my voice.

“Just be careful, alright?” Mito spoke softly. “There are a lot of bad people around those parts. Watch out for the Hoshigake, the Yuki, the Hozuki…”

“Stay away from everyone, and you should be fine,” Nejire added.

“What helpful suggestions,” I deadpanned.

“You’re welcome,” Sumijire contentedly replied.

“At any rate, be careful out there, brat,” Nejire gruffly said as he stood up to dust off the sand from his coat. “Now, Mito-hime, we better get back to Uzushio. There are storm clouds rolling in from the Sanbi’s territory, and I do not want to risk experiencing the Sanbi’s wrath for a second time.”

“Good luck out there with your family, I guess,” Sumijire added, as he stood up himself to join Nejire-san climbing into their boat.

“I guess this is goodbye then,” Mito said, as she took my hands in hers.

“Oh not at all. After staying in the Isles of Mist for about a year and a half, I’ll have to stop by Uzushio before I go on the next leg of my journey.”

“And where would you go after the Isles of Mist?”

“The Peninsula of Clouds.”

“Goodness, you certainly have family in the most dangerous places in the continent.”

“Either way, we’ll be sure to see each other before winter next year.”

Mito brought me into one of her bone-crushing hugs, promptly wringing out all the breath out of my body. “Take care out there, Sen. Mariko-baa chan and I will be praying to every kami who will listen to give you a safe journey.”

“Likewise, Mito-hime. Make sure Uzushio is still standing before I return.” Chuckling, Mito gave me one last hearty squeeze before climbing up into the Nejire trade ship. We spent a good several minutes waving to each other before the ship shrank and disappeared into the horizon.

“Goodness,” Isobu said, as he popped his head out of his shell. “I thought those pesky humans would never leave.”

“How are you able to keep your presence hidden so well?” I asked, slightly annoyed at how good Isobu was at hiding.

Letting out a contented huff, Isobu shuffled back into the shallows. “Well, once you practice enough, your chakra does not merely imitate nature—but becomes one with it. Everything you have learned so far will only improve with time and experience, so much so that you will eventually wield nature chakra so well, that you can fool even the best of sensors. But you’ll learn more about that with Choumei.” Smiling, I followed Isobu onto the sea. I really would miss Isobu’s ‘egghead advice’ as Kurama so aptly put it.

“Speaking of nature chakra, that storm brewing was yours wasn’t it?”

Isobu gave me a fiendish gaze. “Well, that is the only way I knew how to get rid of those humans. My storms give them quite the scare. Now, we are slightly behind schedule. We will need to hasten our pace if we want to get to the Isles of Mist by sundown.”

* * *

The moment we neared the shores in the outskirts of the archipelago, I could see why they called it the Isles of Mist. There was an oppressive fog that blanketed the sea. Feeling its chakra, I could sense that there was significantly more fire chakra swirling with the water and air chakra of the fog.

“Volcanoes,” Isobu abruptly said, shaking me out of my thoughts. “This entire archipelago consists of many, many volcanoes. Consequently, the subterranean magma heats up the seas to variable temperatures, resulting in a dense fog of evaporated seawater covering the Isles.

“Veins of magma bore out tunnels underground. We are now going to one such tunnel Admittedly, I would love to study the effects this has on sea life, but I really do not like sulfur’s chakra, so I can never linger here too long. But enough of my rambling, please prepare to submerge.” With that, Isobu gracefully ducked his head into the sea and vanished from sight. In well-practiced movements, I took a big breath in, and made my chakra as immobile as rock, following Isobu into the water.

“Good,” I heard Isobu say. “You are getting much, much better with adjusting your buoyancy. Now, follow me.” Isobu wove through the water, following the trails of the currents. Never far behind, I mimicked his movements as we darted through spires of rock.

“There are quite a lot of underwater vents around here. They spew out hot gass that turns water scalding hot, so please be mindful of them.”

Heeding Isobu’s advice, I adjusted my eyes to the darkness of the depths, and saw little pipes that jutted out of the sea floor. Occasionally, one would erupt with a menacing, white-hot froth. I could feel its heat pulse through the water.

As we journeyed further and further, I could feel earth and fire chakra emanate from the water chakra, and several thoughts struck me. _I was not in the open sea anymore_ , and _I would really, really miss Isobu_.

Finally, we arrived at the boundary of an island, and stopped in front of the biggest cave mouth I had ever seen. “Well,” Isobu said. “This is as far as I can go.” Turning around, I paddled up to Isobu and hugged him one last time.

“There, there, Sen,” Isobu said as one of his tails gently patted my back. “We will see each other once again, soon. You do have to journey back to my islands before you go on the next leg of your journey. But, in the meantime, do soak up as much knowledge as you can while you stay here. They may not look like it at first, but you will be well taken care of.”

 _“Thank you Isobu,”_ I spoke. Though I did sound garbled and distorted, I was getting better at talking underwater. And, I could see that my message was received when I saw Isobu’s eye light up with happiness. 

“Now, go on then,” Isobu said. With one last wave, I bid him goodbye as he hollered, "And don't forget to practice and meditate every day!" With Isobu's warm wishes, I entered the mouth of the cave.

For the better part of several minutes, I was plunged in total darkness. Grasping at the flow of the water as a guide, I snaked through the cave, making sure to pay attention to any sign of those volcanic vents Isobu talked about. At a certain point, there was a sudden flush of light that streamed through the water, and I knew that I was reaching the end of the tunnel.

Climbing out of the water, I was greeted with a very unusual sight. The cave I had entered, was not a dark, dank and stinky cave one hears spelunkers complain so much about. It was a bright, pleasant smelling cave, littered with glowing crystals stuck to stalactites and stalagmites. The ground almost was slippery with how smooth it was. I padded over to the nearest rock and took out a sealing scroll from my pack to get a dry towel.

_“Are you sure you can give this to me, Mito-hime?” I asked as Mito as she unloaded a bushel of sealing scrolls on me one afternoon. Prior to this, the Uzushio council had commissioned me to harvest pearls for one of their more flamboyant sealing matrixes._

_When I told Isobu, he simply guffawed and brought me to his reef. “Kame recently been brought to my attention the horrible news that there is a bivalve infestation in the reef. So by all means, get as much of those pests as possible.” As he swam away, I could faintly hear Isobu chuckling to himself. “I can scarcely believe it. Humans wear bivalve snot as ornaments. Kuu-nii will laugh his tails off when he hears this.”_

As I was drying off, I could hear a faint sound in the distance. It was a mixture of slithering, oozing and squishing all at once. After a short while, I felt a dense mass of chakra that appeared right under the cave floor. “Ah!” I heard someone gurgle. Turning around, I saw two pale blue eye-stalks sticking out of a hole in the ground.

“You must be the Sen I’ve heard so much about!” They continued.

“Hello,” I said, as I stood up and folded my towel on the rock. “Thank you for having me in your beautiful cave.”

“Oh my!” The eye-stalks declared. “What manners! What eloquence! Kuku was right about you, you do know how to be positively polite!”

Blushing I ducked my head in a bow. “All good things, I hope.”

“Indeed, indeed! Bubu was simply raving about you not two minutes ago. So much so, that I had to leave the mindscape. He does tend to ramble like anything doesn’t he?”

“Well, I quite like Isobu’s rambling. It is as much informative as it is entertaining.”

“Wait until I tell Bubu about that,” The eye-stalks bubbled. “He’d flush green with embarrassment at your complement.”

“That does sound like Isobu,” I chuckled.

“Oh, where are my manners,” The eye-stalks declared. “I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?”

“It is no pressure.”

“Nonsense! You have been a wonderful guest so far, so I should be a wonderful host in return,” The eye-stalks spoke with conviction, before completely jutting itself out of the hole. In the best feat of contortionism I’ve seen thus far, the a pale blue slug head popped out of the hole in the ground. As it slowly pulled itself up, I could see it’s body inch its way out of the ground and onto the cave floor. Once they finally removed themselves from the ground, they fanned their six tails outwards.

“My name is Saiken. Child of the Sage, Keeper of Poisons and Acids—Master of Sixty Thousand Elixirs. Welcome to my humble home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god i am so so sorry for the late update!!! i've had a short rest from online uni, so i just had to publish this chapter while i could. once again, i am very, very sorry for the sporadic updates, but rest assured—i am never going to stop with this fic until it is finished! i have most of the plot and characters mapped out already, so all i need to do is to get around to writing it. :> (but still, disclaimer: this fic is still gonna update hella slow) 
> 
> i know these times are tough (to say the least) what with the pandemic still raging on, and with the stressful election happening in the US. (i'm not american, but i am still anxiously waiting for the results to come out. i am hoping and praying for all our collective sanities, and for the universe to give us a break this 2020) so i hope you all are doing well, staying safe and keeping mentally sound!!! 
> 
> also, 254 kudos!!!! i can scarcely believe it!!! to all my readers, thank you thank you thank you so much for reading and responding to my work. i hope you can find some sort of joy and happiness from my writing, and i wish you all the best. i will try my best to keep on writing as much as i can :>
> 
> a note on the ages of the characters:   
> sen 11 1/2


	8. Stories from the Mist Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here, we meet two star crossed lovers—searching for a sliver of hope in a quickly worsening clan war. And, our hero begins their training in earnest.
> 
> DICLAIMER: Do NOT attempt to eat things off of the ground in caves. This work does not in any way, shape or form encourage its readers to eat off of cave floors. If you do, note that you will not have a magical slug to resuscitate you, and you will do so at your own risk.

_Not again_ , Kangetsu Hozuki thought. _Not again_. The Hozuki forces trudged back into their compound—or rather, what was left of them. Battered and scorched, he watched his elder sister carry back the melted carcass of his father. A silence almost as oppressive and all-encompassing as the mist prevailed over the solemn Hozuki court yard.

“The next time I meet that harlot, Shoko Terumi on the battlefield, I’ll rip her fucking throat out.” His sister, Kakugetsu spat out. “Everyone, make sure you’re all rested and well-prepared—we set out in a fortnight. Kangetsu, come with me. We need to talk strategy for the upcoming battle.” The bedraggled warriors offered a half-hearted mumble of support before filing out of the courtyard and into the main compound.

 _The Yuki_ , Kangetsu thought. _Oh kami, I hope Mayu is faring better than I am_.

“Kan,” He heard his sister bark. “Snap out of your fuckin’ daydreams already. We have shit to do.” Grabbing him by the scruff of his haori, she dragged him into one of the rooms of the compound.

“When I went out to fight, I expected you to stay on your toes while guarding the compound. Kan, you can't afford to daydream anymore.”

“I’m just as stressed and just as tired as you are, sis! And I’ve been pulling my weight for this clan.

“You tell me to stay here and guard the compound, and that’s what I did and that’s what I’m doing—so I’m sorry if I’m not hyperaware enough for you.”

Closing her eyes, Kangetsu sank down to the tatami floor and let out a pained sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s just… We’ve lost a lot of good warriors out in the fields today, and I’m really not in the best mood after fighting those pyromaniacs.”

Grumbling, Kangetsu sat down across from his sister. “And I’m sorry for spacing out. You’re right—I should really be more alert.”

“Woah,” Kakugetsu said, as she gave Kangetsu a sharp-toothed smirk. “Well would you look at that. Little Kan, finally growing into his responsibilities.”

Kangetsu had to let out a little grumble at that. “I’ve always pulled my weight anyhow.” For several seconds, it seemed like the mists parted to reveal a patch of sun. There was lightness between the siblings for a brief moment, and Kangetsu jumped on the opportunity of savoring it as much as he could. But, as quickly as it came, the siblings’ short respite vanished like the morning dew.

“Well then,” Kakugetsu declared. “Let’s get down to business. We fought the Terumi on the Isle of Tears. From what our spies have gathered, the Terumi are camping out in the Isle of Mangroves.”

Furrowing his brow, Kangetsu’s mind set into motion. “Wait, Shoko Terumi _actually_ brought her forces to the Isle of Mangroves? And she brought the Yuki with her as well?”

Giving her brother a devilish smirk, Kakugetsu continued on. “Yes. That harlot is skirting dangerously close to the Rokubi’s territory.”

“Kaku,” Kangetsu asked nervously. “What the hell are you trying to do?”

“I’m gonna find a way to sic the Rokubi on those magma throwing bastards to end two clans in one fell swoop.”

That night, Kangetsu sprinted out of their compound in a mad dash. Not caring about the whipping wind and frigid mist, he made his way to the Isle of Dew. It was a rather small island, situated in the relative center of the entire archipelago. But, unlike the majority of the landmasses in the Isles of Mist, this island did not house some sort of life-threatening terrain. It did not have the vats of steaming acid, it did not provide shelter for schools of flesh-eating sharks, nor did it have rivers of magma. It was just… an ordinary island.

Making his way on the shore, Kangetsu was breathlessly scanning the beach for a familiar figure. In the distance, he saw a lone person, standing where the forest met the beach. They were clad in soft a green-blue robe as clear as the sea. Sighing with relief, Kangetsu made his way to the person.

When the person heard Kangetsu’s footsteps, their head whipped around in his direction. For a moment, both people were stock-still and silent—but this silence was promptly ended when he saw the green-blue robes dart towards him in a blur. In an instant, Kangetsu felt arms bringing him in a full embrace.

“I missed you, Mayu,” He gently said.

“It’s been too long, my dear,” Mayu replied. Both of them were relatively breathless before they crashed into each other in a long and desperate kiss. 

“Kakugetsu is going to do _what_?” Mayu asked, incredulously.

“That was exactly what I thought too.”

“Ugh,” Mayu groaned. “This is spiraling out of control faster than I anticipated.” 

“Hey, hey,” Kangetsu said as he cupped Mayu’s face in his hands. “We’ll figure this out, just like we’ve always done.”

“I—I just hate myself for not doing more to refuse the Terumi’s commission for our clan’s healers.”

“You did your best.”

“Kan, you know that my best won’t be good enough anymore.”

Groaning, Kakugetsu flopped down onto the sand. “Well, we just have to keep on trying. I’m certain we can get through this together.”

Mayu followed suit, sloting herself beside Kangetsu on the beach. “Well, you said your sister was going to bring you on their campaign to the Isle of Mangroves, no?”

“Yeah? Why’d you ask?”

Smiling, Mayu laced her fingers with Kangetsu’s. “If there is any saving grace to this, it’s that we can see each other more often now.”

Realizing what Mayu meant, Kangetsu allowed himself one rare smile. “Yeah, at least we don’t have to spend three hours going back and forth to the Isle of Dew anymore… Wait a moment, if we aren’t going to meet here anymore, then where will we see each other?”

“You’re not going to like this,” Mayu said, with an air of caution. “But I think we should meet in the Isle of Acid.”

“Mayu, darling, love of my life, that is a brilliantly stupid idea.”

“Kaku, honey, my beacon in the mists, think about it,” Mayu said. “If the Hozuki are going to campaign towards the Isle of Mangroves, then you would have to stop in the Isle of Steam. It is the only relatively non-dangerous, non-claimed land in those parts, unless you have a secret pact with the Karatachi that you haven’t told me about—in which case you would logically camp out with them in the Isle of Hurricanes. Therefore, through the process of elimination, the Isle of Steam would most probably be your temporary base. Consequently, the most convenient place where we could meet would be... In the Isle of Acid.”

“But I don’t want to die getting flash fried in the Rokubi’s acid.”

“That’s the point.”

“What? That we should die a horrible death?”

“No, my love. My point is that if we do need to die, at least we can die on our own terms, together.”

“Being flash fried by bone-eating acid.”

Sighing, Mayu tightened her grip on Kangetsu’s hand. “I would much rather face my death with you rather than facing my death alone.”

“Well that we can agree over. If we’re going to die, we better enter Yomi together. But, I’m just scared.”

“Of the slug?”

“Oh definitely,” Kangetsu said. “Do you remember all of the horror stories those survivors would tell about the hellscape down there?”

Mayu shuddered at the thought. “An unholy screech echoing through the cave walls, then rivers of acid that burn, bite and rip your body apart? What kind of kind of horrors will we find in those caves?”

“Whatever happens,” Kangetsu spoke with resoluteness shining through his voice. “At least we’ll face those horrors together, no matter what unspeakable evil we might find down in those tunnels.”

* * *

“I hate to say this, Sen—but you’re really, really bad at this,” Saiken said as he looked over my shoulder. He really was quite adorable when he shrank down.

Sighing, I looked down at the little stone bowl Saiken gave me, and the mixture inside it. “Unfortunately, I have to agree with you on that one.”

“No, no, no, Sen—it’s ok! I can explain the theory to you again, as many times as you’d like me to.”

“To make any of the sixty thousand elixirs in my repertoire, you just need to adjust the ratio of fire, water and earth chakra. Elixir number five makes a very mild corrosive substance. To make this, one just has to mix three parts water chakra with one part earth chakra and one half part fire chakra,” I rattled out. 

“Huh, would you look at that!” Saiken bubbled. “You already got the theory down! I told you it was easy.”

“Easy in theory—not in practice,” I huffed.

“Umm, I think the problem is that lord Saiken failed to mention that there are different qualities of earth chakra, because there are different types of earth,” Katsuyu piped up from where she was resting. She really was the best familiar I’ve met so far—second only to Inari. She was patient, she was caring and: most importantly, she had incredible synergy with Saiken, often adding information in when Saiken’s pace was too fast, or when he neglected to elaborate on certain ideas.

“Wait, there are different qualities of chakra?”

“Yes, Sen-san. Sulfur’s chakra is quite different from normal earth chakra.”

“That’s it!” Saiken declared. “I figured out how to help you! I think you just need more precise instructions.

“Uuuhh, you’ll need to mix… Three parts… Not sea water charka with… One half part sulfur chakra… One half part… This chakra,” Saiken said as he pointed to a stalagmite with one of his tails. “Aaaaand… One part… Normal fire chakra!”

“Ok?”

“Go on, go on, then,” Saiken excitedly bubbled, as he gestured towards the mixing bowls. “Give it one more try.”

Mustering my determination, I stood over the mixing bowl and felt the push and pull of the nature chakra swirling around the cave. I felt the distinct acridity of the sulfur’s yellow chakra and mashed it together with the pristine white of the stalagmite’s charka. Then, like a disgruntled Bakeoff contestant, I whisked it together in the water with as much fire chakra as I could muster out of the ground. The solution in the bowl glowed a little, and Saiken let out a gasp of anticipation.

Letting out a sigh, I finished the mixture and threw it on the nearest stalagmite to see if it had worked. As the mixture hit the stalagmite, it let out a faint hiss, but did not eat away at the stone like it should have. Everyone in the cave groaned in frustration.

“I just don’t get it,” I ranted. “I’ve been following your instructions, but I just can’t seem to do it right.”

“Hmmm, Bubu did say that you learned best with exposure to specific types of chakra. How did he make you so good at water-walking and swimming?”

“He buried me in the sand and nearly drowned me.”

“Oh, that’s genius,” Saiken gasped.

“Well, I’m glad someone approves of it,” I grumbled.

“That’s what I should do too!” Saiken declared. He inched towards me, and plucked the chunk of sulfur that I had been using for the past several hours. “Here, eat this.”

“You want me, to eat that chunk of sulfur.”

“Yes.” Saiken said with absolute certainty. “It is quite small.”

“No.”

“Do it.”

“I’m not sure my body can handle eating sulfur.”

“Katsuyu can always resuscitate you.”

 _At this point, what have you got to loose?_ I asked myself. _You won’t get any better at this, so might as well try._ Grimacing, I gingerly took the small chunk of sulfur from Saiken’s outstretched tail and popped it down my throat .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so uni work hasn't piled up yet, so i just had to write this out. 
> 
> saiken is so much fun to write. he is many things: precious, prone to bouts of drama, a genius, and a very, very bad teacher. and yes, saiken is that voice in the back of your head telling you to lick the ground. with this in mind, the last scene just wrote itself.


	9. Stories from the Mist Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair of star crossed lovers finally meet our hero, the bijuu siblings engage in a precautionary discussion, and enemy lines are finally erased.

“You’ll be happy to find that Sen has graduated from being barely adequate to mildly adequate at mixing elixirs. They’ve yet to reach ‘passably adequate’ but I think they’ll get there in due time,” Saiken bubbled to his siblings, sitting around a makeshift powwow in the Bijuu mindscape.

“Hmmm, well, Sen does get better the more they practice,” Isobu contentedly hummed.

“They have responded quite well to the varying extents of our teaching abilities so far,” Kokuo mildly added. “I am currently under the impression that Sen is very much a hands-on and ‘broad strokes’ type learner. Therefore Matatabi and Son Goku would particularly be able to impart quite a bit of pertinent lessons to them.”

“Yes,” Matatabi purred with excitement as her blue flames burned slightly brighter. “I can’t wait to get my paws on them. We’re going to have so much fun.”

“Just… Just don’t rough Sen up too much, ‘kay ‘Tabi?” Kurama piped up as he materialized in the Bijuu psyche and padded towards where Saiken was sitting. “Speaking of not roughing Sen up… What in the Sage’s name are you feeding Sen over there Saiken?” He barked as he slapped the back of Saiken’s head. “What is this I hear about Sen eating rocks?”

“Uh…” Saiken trailed off.

“You fed Sen what?” Isobu startled.

“It was only a _little_ ,” Saiken muttered.

“A _little_ bit of everything in that Sage damned cave?” Kurama yelled.

“Well, yeah.”

“Humans are ill-equipped to digest inorganic materials.”

“Gee, thanks for the input Kokuo,” Saiken muttered.

“You are most certainly welcome.”

“I don’t understand what all this fuss is about,” Matatabi declared. “Doesn’t Saiken have that responsible familiar of his? What’s her name?”

“Katsuyu."

“Yes thank you Saiken dear, anyway—Saiken has that little slug friend of his, so I wouldn’t worry about it all too much.”

“Still,” Kurama grumbled. “Be a little bit more careful when training Sen yeah? I don’t want to lose them.”

“Ha!” Matatabi chortled. “Like you’re one to talk, we’re going on three for three now.”

“Now what does that mean?” Kurama asked.

“It means that for every one of us Sen visits, we have—to some small extent—exhibited what you so affectionately call ‘tough love’ in our lessons,” Kokuo calmly interjected. “Isobu has used a form of quasi-drowning and live-burials in order to acclimatize Sen to the sea and sand’s chakra, and Saiken is using a similar method of taste testing in order to acclimatize Sen to various types of earth chakra. In both cases, it has been observed that there has been a markedly large amount of progress that has taken place. Not to mention your heavy handed and frankly ill-advised introductory lesson of forcefully opening all of Sen’s tenketsu points without any prior consultation to your siblings.” Kurama did blanch at that one.

“Thus, albeit our methodologies are rather unrefined and ‘clunky’ as you would call it, Sen has responded markedly well to our teaching styles thus far. Therefore I would recommend to proceed with this teaching style so as not to coddle them in the same way that the Sage coddled his children.” The mood of the gathering instantly sobered at the mention of Indra and Ashura.

“Gee, learn how to read a room Uouo,” Saiken muttered.

“Kokuo is right, you know,” A rattling voice spoke at the edge of the powwow. Choumei drifted slowly into view and settled down in a resting pose beside Kokuo. “All grubs must experience some form of hardship and difficulty in order to learn well.”

“Indeed,” Kokuo agreed. “We know of the extreme failures that can arise from ill-informed teaching practices. Therefore, we must take extra precautions in order to avoid replicating them.”

Matatabi’s face scrunched in disgust. “Those two dipshits, for all their smarts and for all their talent, just ended up fighting each other to the death.”

“Not to mention how they were ill-equipped to deal with hardship and disagreement,” Choumei interjected with their clacking mandibles. “It is quite ironic, given that the Sage wanted to bestow upon his children the childhood that he was deprived of, only to see their relationship implode so spectacularly.” 

“But remember when they united on a single front?” Isobu said, with barely concealed fear. “It… It was like they fed off each other’s madness, and gave it back to the other tenfold. That plan they hatched at the end. I… I think we were lucky that they killed each other instead of moving forward with it.”

“Well, at least now things can be different.” Kurama declared.

“How Kuku?” Saiken asked.

Giving grin that bared his gleaming, white fangs, Kurama looked over his gathering of siblings and spoke. “If ever those two reincarnated fuckwads try anything now, they won’t win. After all, what’s two versus nine?”

* * *

“So this is the Isle of Acid, huh?” Mayu said as she and Kangetsu stood before what looked to be a hot spring.

“Yeah,” Kangetsu replied, taking in the scene. “I never really imagined it to look like an onsen.”

It was supposed to be an unremarkable island. Only sparsely ringed by meager mangroves, and sparsely peppered with boulders and stubby hills, the island was really nothing but a mound of very wet soil. However, what made this island special was the labyrinthine mass of tunnels below the earth’s surface.

Hewn out by the Rokubi’s poison, the tunnels were smooth, not rough. It was said that the tunnels ran through the entire area of the islands. It was also said that rivers of acid trickled through the earth like, blood running through a body. But, for Mayu and Kangetsu, the spring of fragrant, steaming water that was situated by the mouth of the cave was an unexpected surprise.

“Hey,” Kangetsu said, with a grin as he tugged on a sleeve of Mayu’s robe. “Wanna do something stupid?”

“Well, we’re already here, so might as well follow through,” Mayu sighed.

“Do you wanna find out if the slug really made it’s island into an onsen?” 

“What if it’s acid?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Kangetsu replied as he dipped a toe into spring. After a minute of deliberation, he chortled, “It’s water.” With that, he stripped off his clothes and scurried into the spring.

“Are you sure it’s water?” Mayu asked, still incredulous.

“Yes,” Kangetsu sighed as he lowered himself further into the spring. “It’s really, really good.”

“I still think you should get out of there.”

“Oh yeah?” Kangetsu smirked. “What are you going to do about it then?”

“I _will_ freeze you like last time, don’t you try me.”

“C’mon, Mayu,” Kangetsu chuckled as he slowly crept out of the spring.

“Kan— _Kan_ what are you—” As Mayu tried to protest, Kangetsu wrapped his arms around her and carried her into the spring. “Oh! Oh. Oh my. You weren’t lying at all.” Mayu said as she leaned into Kangetsu’s embrace in the spring. “Now that you’ve got me here, why don’t you help me out of my robes?” She said with a smirk.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that,” Kangetsu replied with a grin as he fumbled to help Mayu take of her robes.

Lost in their reverie, the young couple did not notice the small figure that arrived at the edge of the spring, shrouded by the steam wafting from the water. “Excuse me, but what are you doing in my hot spring?”

In an instant, the Mayu and Kangetsu shifted into a battle stance, already anticipating an attack. Mayu materialized some ice senbon, and Kangetsu ungracefully fumbled for his sword, stowed away with his clothes. “Please do calm down, I come unarmed.” With that, the figure stepped out of the mist, revealing a slightly willowy youth, bedraggled and clearly exhausted, swaddled in Uzushio style towels, with a slug perched on their shoulder.

The youth spoke with a voice that never once betrayed their sense of palpable discomfort towards the two teenagers hugging each other in the hot spring. “Forgive me, but I have had a rather rough day of training. So, if it is all the same to you, may I join you in the hot spring?”

With her mind still whizzing past all the potential dangers of the child, Mayu was about to return fire with her own questions, but Kangetsu spoke faster. “Wait, why _are_ you here?”

“I could be asking you the same question, you know,” The youth said, with a slight grumble.

“Well… We got here first,” Kangetsu retorted, mustering all the authority he could.

“Well, _I_ made this spring, therefore it is _I_ who got here first.”

“Wait,” Mayu interjected. “You made this spring?”

“I’m getting rather fed up of this line of questioning,” The youth snapped. “I’ve had a tiring day of training, and I really, really want to take a long, nice soak that I could drown myself in, in the spring that _I_ made. So, if you would like me to leave you to do whatever intimate activities I’ve so clearly interrupted you doing, I will take my leave.”

With that, the youth turned on their heel and stomped towards the mouth of the cave. “Wait!” Mayu called out. “Don’t go into that cave!”

“What is this madness…” The youth grumbled under their breath. “Oh, what is it now?”

Already fumbling for her clothes, Mayu continued calling out, "Kid, sorry, sorry we'll get out of your hair but don't go into the cave!" 

“She means the slug! Do you want to die or something?” Kangetsu followed, hurriedly tying his sash around his waist.

“Well, I shall consign my fate to whatever I might find down in the caves rather than to watch whatever you were going to do. Have fun and and please do stay safe,” With that, the youth took off into the darkness of the cave.

After the youth left, Kangetsu—still utterly bewildered by the interaction—carded his finger through Mayu’s hair. “I’m so, so, so confused.”

“What… What just happened?”

“Whatever it was, that kid talked like an elder.”

“Right?!” Mayu exclaimed. “It felt like I was being lectured by obaa-sama.”

“And what were they doing here?”

“What were they thinking? Just… Going down into the Rokubi’s cave like that.”

“That kid must be either really, really ballsy or really, really stupid.”

“Still,” Mayu said, “We should come back here tomorrow to check if he’s all right. Or if we need to bury a body.”

* * *

Much to my chagrin, the couple kept on coming back to the island. They would always skirt around the perimeter of the island, as if they were looking for something. Even though they didn’t use the hot spring by the main entrance anymore, I still didn’t have the energy to go out of the caves because of Saiken’s ever increasing training regimen.

_“Yes, that’s it!” Saiken bubbled. “You’re getting passably adequate at this!”_

_Sighing, I flopped down on the floor of the cave to witness my handiwork. After eating the vast majority of minerals in the caves, I knew the sensations of every variation of earth chakra by heart. The rotten egg flavor of sulfur, the rusty twang of lead, the crinkle of magnesium and the crunch of stalactites. Over the better part of a year, I also learned the sensation of Katsuyu unceremoniously slamming into my stomach in full force to flush Saiken’s ‘buffet’ out of my body._

_Once Saiken deemed my skills as ‘passable’, he told me to give myself a pet project before we moved forward to the more complex elixirs. In his words, I was supposed to accomplish: “A project that combined at least thirty beginner-level to intermediate-level elixirs.”_

_With that as my prompt, I began my brainstorming. Needless to say, it was a long and uneventful slog. But, one day after Katsuyu finished pumping nickel ore out of my stomach, the thought struck me: I should make a hot spring. There were plenty geothermal vents from all of the magma running below the earth’s surface. So, all I needed to do was channel it into a spring. Constantly referring to Katsuyu as a guide, I set about with my project._

_After a month, my work was complete—I had made a small hot spring right at the mouth of the main entrance to the island. “Thank you so, so much for all your help, Katsuyu,” I said as I lowered myself into the spring._

_“It is quite alright, Sen,” Katsuyu replied as she lounged on one of the rocks around the spring. “You make for excellent conversation.”_

_“Oh!” I heard Saiken’s voice echo through the cave walls. “What do we have here?”_

_“It’s my project, Saiken! I’ve completed it,” I called out._

_Slithering out of the cave, Saiken let out a little gasp when he saw the hot spring. “Oh, how marvelous, Sen! A little hot spring, just for us!” With that, Saiken bounded into the spring causing nearly half of the water to overflow out of the pool._

_“Oh! That’s quite clever of you!” Saiken exclaimed as he contentedly rolled around the spring. “Using Elixir 27 and Elixir 64 as the bases for the spring!”_

_“Your muscle relaxer mixture really was a revelation,” I chuckled._

_“And good work using Elixir 91 to retain the heat from underground!”_

_Then, for the better part of two hours, Saiken rattled off, commending me for my good work. Letting the spring ease the tension and aches from my bones, I contentedly lingered in the pool and watched the tawny orange of the setting sun dye the sea. “I think you’re ready for the more advanced elixirs now that you’ve—” Saiken could never really finish the thought, because that was when the first explosion sounded out in the distance._

_In a flash, Saiken hoisted me and Katsuyu out of the spring with one of his tails and barreled down into the cave with a surprising amount of speed. After he sent one of Katsuyu’s clones out to investigate, we learned of the apparent ‘clan war’ up on the surface._

_“Sen, I think it would be best if you avoided going out to the spring for now,” Saiken said with an air of authority I didn’t think he could muster. Sighing, I nodded—and with that, Saiken began a hellish training regimen with the apparent intent to keep me in the cave as much as possible. He also began regularly ‘reporting’ back to the other bijuu regarding the safety of the region, most likely at Kurama’s behest._

_"Kurama-dono gave quite the lecture to Saiken-dono when Inari told him that you were eating rocks," Katsuyu explained._

_After months of constant badgering and negotiating, Saiken finally agreed to let me out of the cave to the spring. “As long as you have Katsuyu as your chaperone up there!” He added, with gusto._

So there I was, positively crawling out of the cave with Katsuyu contentedly lounging on my shoulder to find—yet again—that there were those two teenagers waiting at the edges of the spring. “So,” The white haired one said. “Uuh, I think we got of on the wrong start several days ago. This is Mayu, and my name is Kangetsu what’s yours?”

Sighing, I gave them a short bow. “Well, I am also sorry for being so rude and snappy several days ago. I was bone tired and I desperately want to relax in the spring I worked so hard to make. And I am very pleased to make your acquaintance—my name is Sen.”

* * *

Sighing, Tobirama slumped down against the boulder. All of his limbs were in varying states of pain. His father had been saddling the entire family with more and more training. Itama and Kawarama had all but collapsed after the gauntlet their father pushed them through today, and spirited Hashirama away for more mind-numbing lessons about clan history and politics—leaving Tobirama in charge of exchanging a progress report with the Uchiha.

He didn’t expressly hate them _anymore_. Sen and their rather novel strategy of a induced stalemate had been working increasingly well over the past several years. Less and less people had been coming home from fights with the Uchiha because there were less and less interactions between the two clans.

Every fortnight, Izuna—at the behest of his brother—would give the Senju brothers a copy of the missions the Uchiha were commissioned with for the next fortnight. Either one of the Senju brothers would do the same. _“This way,”_ He remembered Hashirama telling him one night with a fiendish grin. _“We can stay out of the Uchiha’s way, and they can stay out of our way! After all, you can’t kill each other if you don’t see each other.”_

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw the telltale flare of someone breaking out of a shunshin. Out of pure instinct, he reached out to grabbed his tanto. Then, with complaining muscles, he shifted into a well-practiced ready stance.

“Peace,” A voice spoke, “It’s just me.” Out of the shadows, a very different Madara stepped into the moonlight.

In actuality, Tobirama had not recently seen Madara up close. Hashirama would always bound towards Madara during battle like an overexcited puppy, and Tobirama would always seek out Izuna. Now, however—he could get a good look at his enemy turned friend.

Madara was dressed in a well-fitting Uchiha-indigo robe. His hair, usually cascading over his shoulders mane of inky black, was now firmly secured in a tight ponytail, exposing the angular cut of his jaw. Seeing Madara like this did _something_ to Tobirama, something that he was not yet able to describe.

“Hello Madara,” Tobirama spoke with a brisk tone, shaking himself out of his reverie.

“Likewise, Tobirama,” Madara said as he exchanged a ream of papers with Tobirama. “Here are the mission reports for the next fortnight.”

“Out of curiosity, where is Izuna tonight?”

Madara smirked. “Well, suffice it to say that my father caught Izuna doing something incredibly stupid that resulted in a week long sentence to scrubbing the main house clean.”

“That sounds like something Izuna would do.” To that, Madara let out a chuckle.

“By the way, you write very nice reports,” Tobirama froze for a split second as he felt his face heat up with a sensation akin to being scraped by a poisonous senbon, yet Madara continued on. “I love Hashirama like a brother, but he cannot—for the life of him—write a coherent report. You on the other hand, organize things with bullet points. I always feel quite refreshed after reading them.”

“A chicken!” Tobirama blurted out, as Madara quirked his head in confusion. Regaining his train of thought, Tobirama coughed and continued on, “Hashirama writes like a chicken dipped it’s claw in ink.” _Why am I like this tonight?_ Tobirama asked himself.

To that, Madara let out a booming laugh. “Indeed, indeed he does.” Gone was the harsh scowl of Madara’s face Tobirama knew so well, in its place was a big, blooming smile. _He smiles good_ , Tobirama eloquently thought to himself.

“I haven’t laughed like that in quite a while, thank you, Tobirama-san,” Madara said.

“Thank you as well, Madara-san,” Tobirama quickly replied. “With that, I bid you good bye and good night.” Then, Tobirama broke into the quickest shunshin of his life.

 _Kami above_ , He thought to himself as he bounded back to the Senju compound in the dead of night. _What’s happening to me?_

But, despite all his sensing prowess, in his haste and flustered state, Tobirama had failed to notice that as Madara was standing in front of him, something writhed in his shadow. For now, that thing would lie in wait, content in being concealed in the dark, bathing in the light of the full moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phew hello everyone!!! i hope you enjoyed this chapter full of ~foreshadowing~ for darker things to come AAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA so sit back and we shall see where this takes us :0 
> 
> sidenote: i love writing *rebellious teens* mayu & kangetsu and *tsundere gay awakening* tobirama 
> 
> i will probably have the next chapter finished and posted by the start of december, so stay tuned!!! also, i hope and wish that you guys stay safe and happy and healthy during the winter months :>


	10. Stories from the Mist Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our star crossed lovers find themselves in a dire predicament as our hero finally puts their training under the Master of Sixty Thousand Elixirs to good use. Then, a story is told and council is given, and maybe—just maybe—things will turn out alright for everyone involved.

“So you’re a boy?” Kangetsu asked, incredulous.

“Well, yes, but also, no,” I replied, bracing myself for the oncoming headache of explaining myself again. While the residents of Uzushio were nice, they were also deeply matriarchal—so there were a lot of guesses that were hazarded as to the identity of ‘the lovely young girl who sold fish outside of the village gates’.

Mayu then proceeded to knead her elbow into Kangetsu’s flank. “And you can turn your body into water, and I can hide in mirrors made out of ice. Sen is not—and will never be—the strangest thing in the continent. That being said, they can be whoever they want to be.”

“Thank you very much Mayu.”

“No thanks needed, Sen.”

With that, I decided that I really liked her. She was sensible, but not high-strung. She was serious, but not a stickler for rules. And, she was patience made incarnate in dealing with her partner. Kangetsu, on the other hand was growing on me—like a rash. He was rough, scatterbrained and abrasive at times—but more often than not, he was kind, and loyal to a fault. I could at least appreciate _that_.

“Why are you here again?” Kangetsu asked.

Sighing, I answered him for what seemed to be the 12th time that day, “I am visiting my family around the continent, stopping with each family member for the better part of two years.”

“Cool, cool, cool,” Kangetsu replied. “But why are you _here_. As in, _here_ specifically?” He said as he emphatically gestured to the island we were on.

“Well, one of my family members lives in the caves beneath the island. His name is Saiken and he is a wonderful host.”

“So, have you ever seen the Rokubi?” Mayu asked.

“What’s the Rokubi?”

“She is talking about Saiken-sama, Sen-san,” Katsuyu whispered in my ear. “The Otsutsuki are commonly referred to as the tailed beasts by the mortals.”

 _That’s horrible!_ I thought to myself. _And that’s stupid. Had they even bothered asking them what their names were?_

“Oh! Can the slug talk? Is he a summon?” Kangetsu asked.

Shooting a glare at Kangetsu, I replied with what Katsuyu had whispered into my ear. “This slug _can_ talk, and as a matter of fact—has a name. But _she_ does not want to talk to someone who has clearly sustained a concussion since childhood.”

“Don’t be rude to Mayu!”

“They were talking about you, you dolt,” Mayu said as she smacked the back of Kangetsu’s head. It was, at that moment, both Katsuyu and I knew that Mayu should not be treated as anything less than a queen.

Taking a breath, I silently whispered a thank you to Katsuyu for gracefully changing the topic of conversation from Saiken to other matters. I thought that our easy rapport would have been destroyed if I told them I lived with a being that they were apparently feared. People tend to do very stupid things when they are afraid after all.

* * *

“So where did you live before this? Where did you come from?” Kangetsu piped up from the rock he was lounging on. (Rather, where he was slightly melting on.)

By now, this was the couple’s fifth visit to the spring. Much to my surprise, we fell into a wonderfully natural routine. Kangetsu would pepper me with a barrage of questions, much to my chagrin. While Katsuyu would contentedly provide moral support to keep me from launching myself across the spring and throttling the teenager, and Mayu reigning her partner in when he forgot his manners.

“For quite some time, I lived in the forested regions inland. I would hazard a guess that the valley that I lived in would be around… Twelve ri from the coast.”

Kangetsu whistled at that. “Wow, so you’ve gone journeyed quite far to get here.”

“Mmhm. I just stayed in the Sea of Whirlpools for the better part of two years before coming here, but yes.”

“So, have you seen Uzushio then?” Mayu asked.

“Yes, I have.”

“No way,” Kangetsu muttered. “You’re a foreigner to them, so how’d they let you in?”

“Well, in retrospect, they never really did let me into the center of the city. They would take me to the outer rim of the city, but never close to the Uzumaki palace.”

“Then you’ve managed to go further into Uzushio than anyone from the Isles of Mist,” Mayu said, with barley concealed annoyance. “I never really understood why they’re so… Cagey.”

“All of the sealing arts no doubt,” Kangetsu smirked. “Ya know, rumor has it that they’ve developed all sorts of crazy sealing formulas in the inner city. Seals that can fit in the eye of a needle, seals that can stop a man’s heart from beating! Seals that can stop entire tsunamis in their tracks!”

“Whatever it is, I just wish they’d treat the traders from the Isles of Mist with more respect,” Mayu scoffed. “Just because they’re good with sealing doesn’t mean that they’re better than us.”

Kangetsu had taken me aside before they left to explain Mayu’s earlier behavior. “Putting it simply, people from Uzushio have always looked down on us Isle natives. I think it’s because of the fact that they think they’re the hottest shit just because their clans managed to band together on one tiny ass island.”

“So they look down on you because you’re still at war with one another?” I asked.

“Yep. They think we’re all just barbarians down here, and they’re not exactly wrong per se. I mean, the Hoshigaki have some fucked up shit going on in the Isle of Blood, and the Momochi are really, really fuckin' insane, but we still have culture!

“They also seem to forget that just half a century ago, their clans were also at each other’s throats just like we are here.”

“Oh? They had their own clan wars too?”

“Totally. In fact, the Uzumaki clan was particularly violent. Why’d you think all of them are redheads?”

“Uuhhh, genetics?”

“I don’t know what that means, but legend has it that the first Uzumaki matriarch would wash her hair in the blood of her enemies. That’s why they have that deep red in their hair. My point is that they have just as much blood on their hands as we do—if not more.”

“Thank you for rectifying my preconceptions then, Kangetsu-san.” I said.

“Heh,” Kangetsu sighed. “Anytime, kid. Just remember that—if you’re dealing with shinobi—there’s always gonna be something that they’re not telling you.”

“Indeed,” I replied. _There certainly were quite a lot of things about Uzushio that Mito was neglecting to tell me._

* * *

“So,” I said as I settled into the spring water. “You both ran me through a gauntlet of questions, and I think that it is high time that I do the same to you.”

“Go ahead,” Mayu said, as she sunk deeper into the water. Recently, both teenagers had been coming to our hot spring sessions increasingly more battered and beaten. Katsuyu had told me that Mayu was nursing several broken ribs while Kangetsu was suffering from two twisted ankles.

“Do you mind if I ask you about your clans?”

Mayu and Kangetsu shared an inquisitive look, before Kangetsu nodded and started his story. “I am from the Hozuki clan from the Isle of Water. We’re a pretty old clan with at least a century of history. Uuhhh, we also have a kekkei genkai.”

“If I may disturb you for a bit,” I interrupted. “What is a kekkei genkai?”

 _So polite_ , I heard Mayu mutter as Kangetsu began to answer my question. “Well, ‘ya see, there are certain jutsu that people in a clan pass down from generation to generation. Some people—like the Terumi—pass down their lava jutsu from mother to daughter. Us Hozuki pass our liquification jutsu down from parent to child. And my kekkei genkai is really just turning my body into water.”

“Oh, no wonder why you seem to melt whenever you relax!” I exclaimed. “I always thought that the steam was playing tricks on my eyes.”

“Nope!” Kangetsu said with a puffed up chest. “That’s a Hozuki trait for you!

“We also are generally mercenaries, so if you need someone dead, you best come to us. We also get commissions from daimyo to be their guards for a time, but other than that, we really just fight.”

“And I’m from the Yuki clan,” Mayu began. “We’re a relatively small clan from the Isle of Snow, but we are a proud clan nonetheless. Our kekkei genkai—very much like the name of our home island—uses ice.” As she spoke, her fingers lit up in a pale blue light forming dainty snowflakes in the air. “We also have a talent for healing jutsu, so we regularly get commissioned as frontline medics who are both capable of healing shinobi and retreating.”

I stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how I would phrase my next question. “And how are the clan wars in the Isles of Mist?”

Mayu seemed hesitant to respond, so Kangetsu—ever one to leap into challenges head on—filled the silence. “Well, how are the clan wars inland?”

“I thought it was my turn to ask questions,” I said.

“Indulge me for a bit, Sen,” Kangetsu replied, with a smile. “Mayu,” I heard him whisper, “Did I use indulge right?”

“Yes you did,” I heard Mayu whisper back.

“They were horrible, bloody and all consuming,” I answered.

“Its no different here,” Kangetsu replied. “People still fight over the most petty things. People still dye everything they can with blood. And, if the situation gets bad enough, people always are willing to send their children and elders to the battlefield.”

A heavy silence descended over the hot spring. _Well, that was a calculated risk_ , I thought to myself, _And it appears that I am no better at math than I was back in university_. Both Mayu and Kangetsu were sharing one of those wordless conversations they occasionally had—but I could tell that this one was slightly different. Mayu had lines of worry etched into her face, and Kangetsu’s usually chipper countenance was now gripped in a grim expression.

“I—I am very sorry for being so insensitive regarding this topic,” I said, with a careful tone. “I hope—” 

“Look, Sen,” Kangetsu interrupted. “I…It’s ok. Well, it’s not really ok, but… Gah!” He said as he dunked his head in the water.

“What I think Kangetsu was implying is that, he appreciates your concern, but—for the both of us—I think we should talk about something else,” Mayu interjected, ever calm and ever patient. I nodded in understanding, and once again, an oppressive silence descended on our formerly merry little gathering.

* * *

Mayu decided that she was having a horrible day. _In retrospect_ , she thought, _I’m having a horrible month altogether_. The Terumi had been increasing the frequency of the skirmishes they had with the Hozuki, and things had taken a turn for the worse. Izumi obaa-san got killed by a stray water jutsu when she was deployed three days ago. Tsukishima ojii-san was swallowed up by one of the Hozuki clam summons, and the Yuki had just run out of senbon.

“Why is it that whenever we commission the Yuki, they always send all of the shinobi too old to run, and the trainees too young to fight?” Shoko Terumi said as she nursed one of her broken ribs.

“Us Yuki are currently spread thin, Terumi-sama,” Aoi onii-san calmly said. “As such, all of the clan members who can heal are deployed all throughout the Isles of Mist. We always thank you for your continued patronage of our clan.”

“Damn right you should, brat,” Shoko Terumi snarled. “And you,” She said as she leveled a finger towards me. “I think you should accompany me out into the field tomorrow.”

“Terumi-sama, may I be so presumptuous to ask if you send me out in her place instead?” Aoi onii-san said.

“Onii-san, you have a fractured rib and a broken femur. You cannot, and should not go out tomorrow,” I said with as much calmness as I could muster. “Terumi-sama, I would be more than happy to accompany you out into the field tomorrow.”

“Indeed,” Shoko smirked. “If you have the time to meditate outside the camp every night, you should certainly have the time to do your job out in the field.”

“What were you thinking, Yu-chan?” Aoi onii-san exclaimed. “The last time you went out into the field, you came back with three broken ribs. You will not go out there, young lady.”

“Oh, don’t use that tone with me, onii-san. Don’t pretend you’re otou-san. You never will be.”

Aoi’s face instantly blanched at the mention of our father, but at that point, I would not stop. “You and okaa-san are always going out and risking your lives for me. I’m sick of it! I’m sick of not being able to pull my weight in this clan. Let me help you, let me help our clan. _Please_.”

In a flash, Aoi dragged me into a tight hug. “I can’t lose any more of my family, Yu-chan. I just can’t.”

“I’m so, so, sorry onii-san, but I have to do this, for _you_ and for the clan.” With that, I returned the hug as tightly as I could, and I slipped out of his arms and into the sun. After all, I had a job to do.

Kangetsu, very much like Mayu, was having a horrible month. They were both effectively barred from seeing each other as well as dunking themselves into Sen’s magical healing spring because of the conflict between the Terumi and Hozuki finally reaching a boiling point. They fought almost every day now, with both clans making sure to kill as many of the opposing side as they humanly could.

“Crap” Kangetsu muttered under his breath as he and his sister, along with several warriors, sped over the sea spray. “Sen and Miss Katsuyu told me not to put any weight on my broken ankle.”

_Several weeks ago, on one of their conjugal visits to the little spring, Sen’s slug friend finally deemed Kangetsu civilized enough to give him advice on how to treat his broken ankle._

_“You should definitely avoid putting weight on it”, He remembered her say. “And you should definitely avoid that speedy technique that shinobi love to use.”_

_“Sorry Miss Katsuyu,” He said with an apologetic wince. “I can’t really do that given my… Y’know… Occupation.”_

_“Hmf, well if that cannot be helped, Sen dear—” She called out to the kid contentedly talking to Mayu as they lounged opposite to eachother. “Sen dear, please do try to use Elixir 304 on young Kangetsu over here.”_

_“Ah, are you sure about that, Katsuyu?”_

_“Yes, I am quite sure.”_

_“But… Last time with the fish didn’t go that well.”_

_“Hence the use of Elixir 304. You lack the chakra control needed to heal. As such, Elixir 304 would facilitate the healing process along with several added effects.”_

_"_ _Umm,” Mayu spoke up from where she was sitting. “I hate to be rude, but if you’re an inexperienced healer, maybe you shouldn’t try something as advanced as a broken ankle?”_

_“Pish posh,” Katsuyu huffed. “Sen has been learning at a steady rate. Granted, healing with nature energy is quite hard and their chakra control is simply abysmal, but Sen should be able to at least alleviate the swelling.”_

_“Healing with nature chakra?” Mayu asked, incredulous. “Can that even be done?”_

_“Indeed it can,” Katsuyu replied as Sen gently carried Kangetsu’s leg out of the hotspring._

_“What is that?” Kangetsu yelped as Sen’s hands started to secrete a gel like substance._

_“Healing with nature chakra,” Katsuyu calmly replied._

_“How is that even possible?” Mayu asked._

_“You said several weeks ago that Sen would not be the strangest thing that has resided in the continent, did you not?” Mayu nodded, and Katsuyu forged on. “Yet, I cannot help but feel that Sen would nonetheless rank very high on that list should it ever be created. You see, Sen has had an… Interesting development period making them somewhat of an aberration. A wonderfully eloquent and mature aberration, but an aberration nonetheless. For, as I have found many times over—Sen’s existence allows for things to be rediscovered and re-evaluated, quite a bit.”_

_Kangetsu remembered Mayu’s face as Sen’s hands lit up in the minty green of healing chakra. Slowly but surely, the pain in his ankle began to recede._

“Kan. Kan!” His sister snapped, shaking him out of his reverie. “Get your head out of your ass. We’re going to fight soon, so I better not catch you daydreaming again.” Girding his loins, Kangetsu silently bore the pain of his broken bones and forged onto the battlefield.

This was not Mayu’s first battle, technically speaking. She had been slowly shadowing her older clan members into the field—but she was always relegated to stay near the fringes of the battlefield. But now, she was right behind Shoko Terumi, in a mad dash towards the Isle of Waves.

It was a small island, roughly the size of an adequately sized clan compound. It was also the midpoint of both camps of the warring clans. As such, the small island had seen quite a lot of bloodshed over the past several months.

“C’mon, men,” Shoko Terumi calmly said, with a sharp smirk tugging at the sides of her mouth. “Today, we make it to the Hozuki camp and we slaughter each and every one of those mongrels—”

The men were about to murmur their assent, before they were interrupted with a geyser of water exploding out of the ocean right in the middle of their formation. In an instant, the Terumi squadron was split up with well-practiced coordination. Mayu had barely escaped the blast radius if it was not for Shoko Terumi yanking the collar of her robes and throwing her across the sea.

“Stay sharp,” She said as she clamped a vice like grip on Mayu’s shoulder. In an instant, Mayu’s memories of all her medic training flooded back to her consciousness.

 _“Medics should be the last people standing, that is the Medic’s mantra, Mayu-chan,”_ She remembered her grandmother tell her over a cup of steaming tea. _“If we stay alive, then it should stand to reason that we could heal the rest of the fighting force.”_ But, her matra was soon interrupted as the steam from the explosion melted away to reveal a stone-faced Kakugetsu Hozuki, flanked by several white haired warriors—including Kangetsu.

For several moments, the only things that moved were eyes casting furtive glances around the calm stretch of ocean. Eyes that appraised potential threats, eyes that calculated odds of survival, eyes set with the grim look of tired warriors. And, as soon as Mayu felt her muscles tense, the fragile silence was broken by Kakugetsu Hozuki letting out a guttural bellow before the world descended into chaos.

Mayu put as much chakra as she could into the soles of her feet and propelled herself backwards as the Terumi squadron surged forth. The Terumi—now only visible as streaks of rusty crimson—dashed across the sea, calling forth waves of water and magma behind them.

Not to be outdone, three Hozuki clansmen appeared in front of their own squadron, weaving a flurry of hand signs before launching a squall of water shuriken towards her direction. In an instant, magma met water and steam enveloped the entire stretch of ocean.

With sight effectively cut, Mayu focused on the dense clusters of chakra in the billowing steam. The sound of clanging metal and splashing water was the only thing she could hear before a shrill whistle rose above the din of fighting. Kangetsu warned her about this whistle, as it was Hozuki code for ‘find and kill enemy medic.’ Steeling herself for the inevitable, Mayu seeled herself and secured her Yuki mask before running head first into the thick mist.

Hacking away at a Terumi soldier, Kangetsu’s arms started to feel tired. His sister and their retainers remained in earshot as they continued the greuling process of routing as much of the Terumi force as they could. But, he was shaken out of his tiredness as a shrill scream pierced the air. _Kakugetsu_ , he thought to himself as he ran to the sound of her voice as fast as his feet could carry him. _Oh kami, please let Nee-san be allright_.

As he approached the source of the scream, he saw Shoko Terumi battling his sister at a standstill as Mayu was frantically healing one of the Terumi retainers on what looked like a floating block of ice. With a swing of her sword, Kakugetsu batted Shoko Terumi a good eight meters before she landed on the choppy ocean.

He could almost hear Kakugetsu’s huff of annoyance as he saw Shoko Terumi’s hands weave the signs for one of her clans lava jutsu. Shoko clapped her hands together, finishing the sequence as her stomach swelled and then promptly flattened, spitting out a wave of magma.

He knew that the Terumi—like all of the other clans of the Isles of Mist—followed an unspoken rule. If anyone had a shot at killing an enemy commander, having several people on your side go down as collateral was acceptable. He had even seen his sister skewer one of their retainers as he pinned down the Karaitachi heir several years ago. But he was never prepared to see someone do the same as Mayu was directly in the magma’s line of fire.

At that point, Kangetsu’s body moved on its own as he sped forward to tackle Mayu into the sea, shielding her from the falling magma. _In every respect_ , he thought, _I thought that things would have ended differently for me. But I can’t really complain. I have my whole world in my arms, and if I can protect her, and let her savor life just a little bit longer, I can descend to Yomi with absolutely no regrets._ As he wound his arms around Mayu, he allowed himself a short respite in feeling her weight as a searing hot pain bloomed across his back before everything faded to black. 

* * *

Katsuyu and I had just finished our daily soak, and as I was just wrapping my towel around my sopping wet hair, I heard footsteps approaching our little hot spring. “Please,” A hoarse voice croaked. “Please help my Kan.”

“Mayu,” I called out, “Is that—Oh my Lord what on earth happened to you.” I promptly dropped my towel as I ran to meet the limping form of Mayu dragging a bruised, burnt and battered Kangetsu forward.

Mayu herself had a leg twisted in an awkward position as she hobbled forward with Kangetsu draped over her shoulders like a ragdoll. Both teenagers had several kunai and shuriken sticking out of their bodies, but Kangetsu really took the cake in terms of injuries sustained. His normally silver white hair was now an ashen grey, stained with soot. But, as I gently pried Mayu off of her partner in order to shoulder his weight, I saw the ghastly burn that blanketed his back.

The cloth of his uniform was completely burnt off, exposing a mass of charred and cratered skin. Instinctually, I reached several fingers to the base of his chin, and I let out a sharp sigh when I felt that he still had a pulse. It was weak, and it was at irregular intervals, but it was still there. There was still hope.

“Katsuyu, we have to take them into the cave,” I yelled. “Both are severely injured.”

“Obviously so,” Katsuyu said as I scooped her up into my extra arm and hauled all three down into the darkness of the caves.

“I… I did as much as much first aid I could,” Mayu spoke with a shaky breath. “I already cleaned and disinfected the burn with the supplies I had with me.”

“Very good, then,” Katsuyu said. “You’ve done admirably in the face of extreme duress.”

“Are… Are you taking us to be fed to the Rokubi?” Mayu asked.

“No, child. We are taking you to a safe place in order to heal you.”

“But—”

“Hush now, child. Nothing will harm you within these caves.”

“Yes,” I piped up. “The Rokubi is not here right now. He left to make another cave system an hour ago.” Katsuyu and I shared a wary glance, waiting to see Mayu’s reaction, but it looked like she was too tired to speak. In fairness to Katsuyu and myself, Saiken did—indeed—leave the caves an hour ago to melt new tunnels into the bedrock.

_“I think this warrants a new wing!” He declared to the empty space of the cave before promptly melting a path into the bedrock._

_“Who was he talking to?” I asked Katsuyu._

_“You know, for the century I’ve known him, he’s never really explained why he does this,” Katsuyu said as she let out a weary sigh._

After the better part of five minutes, we reached my cave. The stalactites glittered overhead, giving off a pale glow that illuminated the cavernous space. At the center of the cave was a new and slightly more potent hot spring which was made at Saiken’s behest as he deemed it unsafe to bathe in the hot spring above ground because of the sound of explosions nearing the island. _“You can only go to the spring above ground once a week!”_ He bubbled, as I set about making another hot spring in the cave. 

“Now go in the spring, child,” Katsuyu said, as I gingerly put Kangetsu’s body on the floor of the cave. “You have injuries, but none as grave as your partner. Rest and sleep in the spring for a while as Sen and I heal him.”

I nodded, and lead Mayu to the spring. “Please,” She whispered as she gripped my arm with her shaking hands. “Please heal him.”

“We will, Mayu,” I replied. “Now rest, and let us take it from here.”

As I lowered Mayu into the spring, I could see the cave glow with Katsuyu’s mint green healing chakra. “Sen, please start producing as much of Elixir 600 as you can.”

“Of course,” I said as I set about, mixing the correct ratio of water, fire and earth chakra in a now well-practiced form. I cupped my hands together as my palms filled with the aquamarine colored gel. Elixir 600 was one of the strongest burn salves that Saiken had thought up, and coincidentally, it was one of my most familiar elixirs due to the increased frequency of my chemical burns from the more corrosive recipes that Saiken taught me.

“Now, please spread it on young Kangetsu’s back as I heal him.” It was slow and painstaking work, but I could see that the charred skin was flaking off to expose his lower epidermis.

“Good,” Katsuyu declared as she slumped off Kangetsu’s back. “I know you have recently reached the four digit elixirs, and I would very much like it if you would administer Elixir 1704 on his back.”

“But I—”

“Sen, you cannot start doubting yourself now,” Saiken calmly interjected. “If you could complete that skin graft on a shark, you can complete the skin graft on a human. After all, Saiken-sama would not give teach you the Elixir if he did not deem you ready and proficient enough to use it.”

Steeling myself, I began muttering what Saiken had taught me just the other day. “Mix three parts water chakra with one fifth part fire chakra and three parts carbon chakra along with the chakra you can feel in your skin,” I whispered as the dark green elixir started to form on my hands.

“Temper the Elixir with a constant amount of your internal chakra as you apply the Elixir on the body of the patient,” I whispered as I spread the elixir onto the raw skin on Kangetsu’s back. “And now, leave it to set, and let Katsuyu do her magic.” I said as I finished applying the Elixir. As I gave Katsuyu a sharp nod, she slowly inched her way onto Kangetsu’s back again as the room filled with the light of her chakra once more.

* * *

As he slowly regained consciousness, Kangetsu felt like he was on his childhood futon again. Everything felt too soft, and too comfortable—frankly, he felt like it was too luxurious for Yomi’s standards. After a good bit of savoring the sensation of sinking, he knew something was slightly off when he smelled something burning.

All at once, memories of smelling the scent of burning flesh sizzling against molten hot lava came flooding into Kangetsu’s mind. And, with a sharp intake of breath, Kangetsu lept up and opened his eyes.

“Oh,” Sen calmly said, as they tended to fish roasting by a fire. “You woke up ahead of schedule.”

“Am I dead?” Kangetsu muttered to himself, slightly reeling at the sight of the youth by the fire. “I knew you were too otherworldly to be a kid. You’re the Master of Yomi aren’t you?”

Chuckling, Sen rose from where they sat and walked up to Kangetsu. “No, you are definitely still in the realm of the living, though I do think you’ve hit the nail on the head with the otherworldly part of your statement,” They said as they swaddled Kangetsu in one of their Uzushio fabrics while muttering about how exposure to adolescents ended up with speaking with contractions.

“Come, the fire is warm and the fish are ready to eat. Mayu will be back in a short while from patrolling the perimeter of the island.”

“Mayu?” Kangetsu yelped. “She’s here? Is she ok? Is she hurt?”

“You will be happy to note that she only had to deal with several broken bones and some lacerations. But, do not fret, she is right as rain.”

“She had some _what_?”

“Lacerations means slashes or cuts.”

“She got hit by a sword?”

“Well, Mayu has been very worried about you as you recovered, so Katsuyu and I did not want to pry overmuch about the details surrounding your circumstances.”

Deciding to lighten the mood, Kangetsu returned to his favorite thing to tease Sen with. “Why do you talk so nice? I’ve never heard someone of your age talk like a clan elder.”

“I suppose it means that I have an old soul.”

“Yeah, an _incredibly_ old soul.”

“If you are hale and hearty enough to criticize the way I speak and to pepper me with your incessant questions, then that means the slightly irritating—yet surprisingly lovable—Kangetsu is back in the realm of the living. Now, eat and warm yourself by the fire.”

“I give thee my thanks, esteemed elder,” Kangetsu said as he feigned his best impression of formal speech.

“Do not test me, whipper snapper,” I shot back, before the sound of footsteps sounded in the distance.

In a short while, Mayu trekked back into the light of the cave with Katsuyu in tow. As soon as she was healthy enough to walk, she had insisted on patrolling around the island. Katsuyu and I indulged her slight paranoia, and let her wander around the perimeter of our little island. But, her patrols decreased in frequency as of late. We suspected it was because she wanted to greet Kangetsu as he woke from his medically induced coma.

As soon a she saw her partner resting by the fire, and as soon as Kangetsu gave a weary—but nonetheless happy—greeting, she promptly dropped Katsuyu onto the cave floor and scooped Kangetsu into a tight embrace. “You idiot!” She seethed as she buried her face in the crook of Kangetsu’s neck. “You reckless, idiot. What were you thinking bearing the brunt of Terumi lava?”

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. Your idiot managed to survive didn’t he?” Kangetsu said with a shaky smile.

“I thought we were in this together?”

“We are, Yu-chan, we are. But when I saw you in harm’s way, I just… I just knew I had to do whatever I could to save you.”

Mayu seemed to coil around Kangetsu even further, wrapping him in the tightest embrace she could muster. “Well then, I think I just have to stay by your side forever to make sure you don’t end up half dead again.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Yu,” Kangetsu said as he leaned into Mayu’s embrace. The couple spent the better part of ten minutes savoring each other’s presence as the fire crackled on, and as the roasted fish remained out of sight and out of mind. Not wanting to intrude, Sen and Katsuyu made a quick retreat so as not to disturb the pair’s quiet peace.

“Ah,” Kangetsu said as I watched him lower himself into the subterranean spring. “Nothing beats a good onsen.” Mayu gave her a nod of assent from her position, nestled underneath Kangetsu’s chin.

“I am certainly glad you are able to enjoy the fruits of my labour,” I said as I watched the contented couple bask in each other’s presence. “If you do not mind overmuch, may I ask what is happening out there?”

“In what manner?” Mayu asked back.

“Well, I certainly want to know what has been causing my friends so much harm and distress,” I calmly replied. “I remember all those times you both trudged into my springs, all black and blue with bruises, cuts and wounds.”

“It all started with a daimyo, as most inter-clan conflicts do,” Mayu spoke with a somber voice. “The daimyo from the Isle of Hot Springs—which, by the way don’t come anywhere near the quality of your hot springs—hired the Terumi clan to acquire several islands from the daimyo of the Isle of Wells to add to the his collection.

“The neighboring daimyo, of the Isle of Wells did not like the landgrab so much, so he hired the Hozuki clan to protect his territory. The Yuki are currently under a contract with the Terumi clan to act as battlefield medics for the Terumi forces, so Kan and I have found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a proxy war between two pathetically petty men,” Mayu spat out, seething with barely controlled rage.

My eyes widened as I took stock of the couple’s context. “So, why have you come all the way here?” Katsuyu said. “The Isle of Hot Springs and the Isle of Wells are on opposite sides of the archipelago, so why did you choose this island—out of all of the available islands—as your meeting spot?”

Kangetsu took a deep breath in before answering Katsuyu. “We came up with a contingency plan before the war started. If ever we found ourselves in a situation where we would be forced to meet each other in the field, we agreed to make our way here—to die together on our own conditions, with the Rokubi aiding us to our journey to Yomi.”

“So you came here to die?” I asked, incredulous.

“Yeah.”

“Unacceptable,” I spat. “You have your whole lives ahead of you, you have your whole lives _together_ ahead of you. How is suicide going to help anyone in this scenario?”

“How would you have handled it, then? With your obviously wide breadth of experience?” Mayu spoke with a tone that could freeze hell itself.

“I apologize for my crude and uncouth wording. I was seized by a sudden bout of passion, and I spoke out of line, and I apologize for being so callous,” I said.

“Apology accepted, then,” Mayu sighed. “But I really want to know, what _would_ you have done in our situation?”

“As a matter of fact, I think I might have to tell you two a story which could shed light on your current predicament.”

“What does a story have to do with…” Kangetsu said as he was cut off by Katsuyu hitting him with a light jet of water. “What was that for?!”

“Shh,” Katsuyu hissed. “If Sen says they want to tell a story, you stop and listen.”

“Katsuyu, that don’t just— What are you doing?” I asked as Katsuyu was spraying me with the same weak water jutsu she sprayed on Kangetsu.

“I have waited very, very patiently for you to give us a story, as Inari advised me not to pester you to tell a story right after you arrived in our care. That lucky bastard Kame got to hear a story right when you arrived in Isobu-sama’s territory. He doenst do anything but graze on seagrass for an entire millennia, but he gets a story on the first night of your visit.”

“Who’s Inari?”

“That is of no consequence to you,” Katsuyu said to Mayu as she schooled her expression. “Needless to say, Sen, I’ve been very, very excited to hear the story you have to tell. And I apologize if my behavior was unbecoming. Just like you, I am prone to suffering from occasional bouts of passion.”

To say I was surprised at Katsuyu’s outburst would be an understatement. But, at this point, I would not be deterred. “Very well then,” I said with a shaky voice, still reeling from mild mannered Katsuyu calling Kame a bastard.

“Two households, both alike in honor, in a fair city where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star crossed lovers take their life; whose misadventures overthrow their parents strife. The fearful passage of their death-marked love and the continuance of their parent’s rage, which, but their children’s end could naught could remove, is not the two hours duration of this tale, the which—if your patient ears attend—what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”

As I stopped the chorus, I could see all three beings enthralled with the eternal bard’s lyricism. _Shit_ , I thought, _This will sound really, really bad. I haven’t figured out how to translate iambic pentameter to Japanese yet, so this ‘translation’—if I can even call it that—will probably make Shakespeare roll in his grave. Well, here goes nothing then_. With that, I began the drama.

“Oh man, they’re gonna fight in the street?” Kangetsu whispered to Mayu, who was still tucked under his chin, now attentively listening to the tense interaction between the conflicting clan’s retainers.

“It looks like it,” She answered. “And now the patriarchs of the clans want to fight each other. This is starting to sound very, very familiar.”

“Shh,” Katsuyu hissed. “Things are getting interesting so please keep the commentary to a minimum.”

“That lord sounds absolutely tiresome to deal with,” Katsuyu whispered to Mayu.

“That poor lady. I hate suitors. I hate them with a passion,” Mayu affirmed.

“Wait, you’ve been getting suitors?” Kangetsu yelled, after which he was promptly silenced with a smack to the back of the head and a spray of water to the face.

“There’s no rest for me is there?” Kangetsu muttered, before promptly yelling that the young lord should get over this Lady of Roses he was pining for. For the second time that night, Kangetsu was very violently silenced.

“You know,” Mayu whispered to Katsuyu. “That’s always how it starts. The aunt or mother figure comes in and gives you a talk about how you’re approaching the flowering age, so it’s inevitably ‘time to start adding to the clan’.”

“You humans confuse me to no end with all your curious little habits,” Katsuyu whispered back. “Why do you engage in those ‘festivals; as they are so called?”

“Well, they’re really mainly organized by daimyo who just want to show off, or—in this case—to act as engagement parties.”

“I kinda feel bad for the Lordling,” Kangetsu whispered. “Poor guy just had to fall for the Lady celebrating her own engagement party.” 

“And I just have this sinking feeling that nothing will turn out all right,” Katsuyu declared, to which the couple agreed.

“That’s romantic,” Mayu whispered to Kangetsu, as the little Lord compared the Lady to the harkening of the sun.

“So you want _me_ to go up to _your_ compound, and yell poems at your shoji screen right before _dawn_?”

“You don’t need to do that,” Mayu said as she snuggled into Kangetsu’s side. “I love you just as you are.”

“Awww,” Kangetsu cooed as he cupped Mayu’s chin and sealed their lips together with a kiss. Katsuyu looked torn between shock, discomfort and slight disgust at the unabashedly public display of affection.

“Wait, wait, wait, they’re already going to get married?” Kangetsu violently whispered.

“Didn’t… Didn’t they just meet the night before?” Mayu whispered back, reeling at the sudden declaration to marriage. “And they’re going to elope?”

“Shh,” Katsuyu hissed. “I want to hear what happens next.”

“Oh, dear,” Katsuyu declared. “A death right after the marriage. How grim.”

“Shit,” Kangetsu said as he bit on his lip. “I knew things would get messy.”

“Now the Lordling is avenging his clansman. And— Oh my. Oh my, he killed one of his bride’s clansmen,” Mayu whispered as she cupped her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp as the young Lordling was henceforth banished from the city by the daimyo.

“Oh fuck, the Lady’s mother is gonna catch her daughter with the Lordling who was _just_ banished,” Mayu gasped. 

“And now they’re forcing the marriage of the Lady to the other shithead,” Kangetsu said as he held on to Mayu’s hand for dear life.

“This is getting fun,” Katsuyu resolutely whispered.

“That’s… That’s a needlessly complicated plan,” Kangetsu declared as the monk finished outlining his scheme to reunite the star crossed lovers.

“Yeah,” Mayu agreed. “It just reeks of potential misunderstanding.”

“Mayu, would you ever willingly ingest poison?”

“Never.”

“Mayu, would you ever sleep with a wakizashi?”

“Never.”

“Oh thank the heavens,” Kangetsu said as he brought Mayu into an impromptu embrace.

“Wait, wait, Kan, I love you, but not now. I feel like we’re just getting to the good part.”

“Shit, shit, shit. He drank the poison,” Kangetsu said, shellshocked.

“He killed the shithead _then_ drank the poison,” Mayu corrected

“Still! The dumbass died!”

“Please be quiet!” Katsuyu shushed the couple once more right as the Lady woke up from her poison induced slumber.

“Fuuuuuuck,” Kangetsu winced.

“Fuck indeed.”

All three listeners immediately let out an involuntary hiss as the Lady plunged the waiting wakizashi into her stomach. “Mayu, light of my life, please do not sleep anywhere near a sword.”

“Kangetsu, warden of my heart and soul, know that I will never, _ever_ sleep with beside a sword for as long as I live.

“A glooming peace this morning with it brings,” The daimyo spoke. “The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence to have more talk of these sad things: some shall be pardoned and some shall be punished. For never was a story of more woe than this fair Lady and her Lord, united in death.”

I had to admit. I did not realize that we were all still in the hot spring after two hours. Mayu and Kangetsu looked wrinkled from both their time bathing in the spring as well as their abject horror at the ending of the play. Katsuyu on the other hand, looked delighted at the ending.

“Wonderful!” Katsuyu said as her eye stalks bounced up and down. “Marvelous!”

“Why was this so sad?” Kangetsu screeched.

“Did they really have to die in the end?” Mayu spoke, as distraught as her partner. “They were just kids!”

“Precisely my point,” I said as I leveled a stern gaze towards the couple. “They were just kids, much like you two are.”

“What does this have to do with us?” Kangetsu still screeched.

Sighing, I continued on. “Sometimes, we come up with ill-advised plans. Rashness and hasty decisions are really a very integral part of humanity. And, sometimes, we do not have a moment to think and to question the integrity of our plans. Maybe we are swept up in passion, and maybe we think that there is no other option. But, I want you two to know that there will always be a way out of these situations.

“Maybe they are not as evident as one would wish them to be, nevertheless, take heart. For there always is a way out. By every metric, finding it will not be an easy task. Therein lies the role of faith. You both trust each other a great deal, yes? Then trust each other to be your anchor, to be your crutch.

“You are both wonderful teenagers, brimming with potential. Moreover, you are naturally endowed with wonderful traits. Mayu, you have an undeniably stalwart aura around you, as well as a good voice of reason. Kangetsu, you naturally uplift the people around you, and you never cease to find the good in things.

“I am confident, that through relying on your character, and through relying on each other, you may—no, you will find your way out of your clan drama. It may be daunting, and it may be difficult. But I will eat my sandals if you cannot find your way out of this situation together.”

“You… You really think that we have a shot at this? A shot for happiness?” Kangetsu asked, with cheeks flushed with spring heat and eyes glinting with newfound hope.

“You are two of the most spectacular people I’ve ever had the honor of meeting,” I answered. “I have full faith in both of you. I—” As I opened my mouth, I heard a wailing noise echo in the distance.

“Do you hear that sound?” I asked.

“Wait, wait, you really believe in us?” Mayu said.

“Of course, I do Mayu,” I resolutely declared. “Now where is that sound coming from?”

“Sen,” Katsuyu said, as her eye stalks drifted closer to her body—like what she would do whenever she prepared for one of Saiken’s more unreasonable whims. “Brace yourself.”

“What?” Kangetsu asked as the cavern wall melted to a puddle to reveal a wailing Saiken pushing himself into the cave floor.

“That… That was so, so sad,” Saiken wailed as he ungracefully flopped onto the floor, tails fully akimbo. “Why did they have to die? They were… Not good for each other. But they could have sorted it out? Couldn’t they?! Sen, please tell me they were able to sort it out?”

I really didn’t know what to make of the situation. Both Mayu and Kangetsu were as white as ghosts, and Katsuyu looked extremely exasperated with Saiken’s wailing. Saiken turned his head towards the hot spring we were all clustered in, and—with all his might—let out one deafening cry of, “Oh the tragedy!” before Mayu and Kangetsu fainted in a mixture of heatstroke and shock.

“Oh?” Saiken said, as he quirked his head looking absolutely fine. “You had guests over? Oh dear, I didn’t even notice them until now.” Sighing, I resigned myself to hauling out the unconscious couple from the water as I asked Saiken how the tunnel expansion was going. As it turned out, all would—most probably—be well in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends !!! i know i said that i would publish this by the start of december, but uni has taken a turn for the... i don't really know but all i know is that i am very, very busy. AHVSKDALKWV so now, i hope you enjoy this very, very lengthy chapter!!! 
> 
> i really enjoyed writing the different perspectives of this chapter. i felt that i really needed to take a look through the eyes of a third person, sen, mayu and kangetsu in order to bring as much of the narrative potential of this chapter out as possible. to be perfectly honest, i had a hard time writing the romance of mayu and kangetsu. but, i think i've gotten it down (after 3 chapters woooo) and i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it! 
> 
> i can't promise anything in terms of chapters, but i've finally finished the detailed outline of this story. we have six more bijuu to go, and i can't wait to introduce them to you all. who do ya'll think will be introduced next? :0 i will be working on the next chapter (and it should hopefully come out soon) but we shall just have to wait and see where this takes us :> ALSO, thank you so so much for all of my readers!!! 2020 has been a tough year for all of us, but i could not be happier sharing my writing with you all. i wish you all a safe and happy holiday season this year :>
> 
> with love,  
> Becca D. Buss
> 
> a note on the ages of the characters:  
> sen - 13   
> kangetsu - 15  
> mayu - 17


	11. Stories from the Sea Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, an important family conversation is held as our hero finds a safe harbor for respite before continuing on their journey inland. Here we also witness a very, very important meeting.

Saiken was—in a manner of speaking—inconsolable. “I really miss Sen,” Saiken moped as he slinked into the bijuu mindscape only to be swept into what embrace Chomei could manage with their wings.

“There, there, Sai,” Chomei, cooed—or rather, clicked with their mandibles.

“It’s just… It feels like Sen’s passed on.”

“Sen is not dead,” Kokuo calmly interjected. “Please, Saiken, be more mindful of your language before…”

“What happened to Sen?” Kurama bellowed as he unceremoniously crashed into the mindscape at the mention of hearing the words Sen and dead in the same sentence.

“… Before Kurama inevitably comes to a misunderstanding,” Kokuo finished, as they let out a long sigh.

“Now, now, let us not be hasty,” Chomei interjected as they fluttered towards their previous resting spot. “Sen has just left the Isles of Mist an hour ago, according to Saiken’s estimate. Therefore, they should arrive in Isobu’s transitory care in about… Kokuo?”

“Five and a half hours, factoring in wind speed, tide and the improvements of Sen’s ability to interact with and utilize nature chakra,” Kokuo helpfully supplied from where they were sitting.

Sighing, Saiken slumped over. “Oh, I just miss Sen already. They’ve made quite a few friends in their stay with me, after all. So I really couldn’t interrupt their goodbye. Not since I interrupted them several months ago after… Extraneous circumstances.” Wisely, Saiken glossed over the rather violent situation the little family found themselves in the middle of several months ago. But, to everyone’s relief, the two lovebirds had gotten out of their predicament only partially scathed. 

“ _When will you be back?” Mayu asked, as Sen was absentmindedly sinking into the waters of the above-ground hot spring on the eve of their departure._

_“I really cannot say,” Sen replied as they wrung all of the water out of their hair._

_“Well, guesstimate then!” Kangetsu piped up._

_“What?”_

_“Guesstimate! A guess and an estimate. A guesstimate!”_

_“Your slang never ceases to amaze me.”_

_Puffing out his chest slightly, Kangetsu beamed one of his proud smirks. “All in a day’s work!”_

_“Still,” Mayu said as she clasped my hand in Sen’s. “We’ll miss you a lot, so never be a stranger if you come around to our part of the continent, allright?”_

_“Oh, don’t you worry. My coming back here is not a matter of if, but a matter of when,” Sen replied._

After their week long rest, Mayu and Kangetsu finally returned to their respective clans without much fanfare. Kakugetsu, upon seeing her brother, punched him so hard that he flew through several shoji screens in the compound. When confirming that he was not an illusion cast by an incredibly cruel genjutsu, she punched him even harder.

Mayu’s return to her clan—unlike Kangetsu—was met with quite a lot of tears. Aoi, who had been besieged by the guilt of letting his younger, more inexperienced sister out of the battlefield was nigh inconsolable by the small remainder of his family. So, when she returned—without a scratch on her person—he immediately flung himself into her arms, sobbing all the way.

Still in rather dire straits, Mayu and Kangetsu brought their two clans together, in what Kakugetsu so eloquently called: _‘a clusterfuck of negotiations.’_ The Yuki had been put in a precarious position wherein they enraged the Terumi for not ‘doing their job’ as Mayu seethed to Sen the other day. And the Yuki were still quite angry at the Hozuki for catching several of their field medics in the cross fire between their conflict with the Terumi, to which Kangetsu grumbled something along the lines of, _“They knew what they were signing up to do.”_

Regardless of the position they found themselves in, Mayu and Kangetsu worked tirelessly to broker a new peace between their families. As a matter of fact, on one of their more recent spring visits, Mayu had come up with the ingenious suggestion of making a clan merger contract, which stipulated that the Yuki would act as frontline medics, while the Hozuki would act as their body guards or extra forces to whomever hired them.

“All in all,” Saiken recounted to his siblings after spilling the entire story of Sen’s visit in the Isles of Mist, “Things really did turn out alright between them.”

“That may be so, but I cannot help but feel some sense of trepidation for Sen’s return to the continent,” Chomei said as their wings gave a nervous flutter. “I’ve sensed quite a lot of movement within the more… Chakra gifted humans around Kurama’s area of jurisdiction. As a whole, individual chakra signatures have not decreased, which implies that there has not been a war to cull the population. Nevertheless, I feel as though there is something being planned in secret. As such, I would suggest that we fortify the perimiters of our territory.”

“You’re getting rusty, Twiggy,” Kurama chuckled. “You were never one to be uncertain about your sensing.”

Letting out a slightly irritated mandible click, Choumei flicked their tale at Kurama. “Well forgive me for not having the range I had a century ago. I was preoccupied.”

“With what?”

“Oh, with my progeny.”

Gasping, Saiken shot up from their slouching position. “Progeny? Chou-chou, does this mean that I’m an uncle now?”

“What in the Sage’s name are you talking about,” Kokuo grit out. “And what precisely is an uncle?” 

“I learned it from Sen’s little friends. You know humans and their familial terms,” Saiken bubbled, regaining his lost vim and vigor. “I think it’s… Your father’s sister?”

“We are beings made out of chakra, Saiken. We have no use of familial terms.”

“But we are a family,” Kurama said, snorting out a plume of smoke. “The Sage did make us as a family, so I think—in his own fucked up way—he’s our father.”

The whole mindscape stilled. “Kurama,” Choumei said as their wings gave off a nervous flutter. “You… You would call the Sage our father?”

Sighing, Kurama fell on his back. “Look, I… I’ve had a complicated relationship with the Sage when he was still with us. And I can’t lie that I haven’t been struggling with… Rethinking my relationship with the human side of the family. And… I… When I was listening to Bubbles’ memory about Sen’s story with the lords and the ladies and the whatnot. I got to thinking, that I’ve been a pretty shitty sibling.

“I tried to smooth things over with the two shitheads to keep the Sage’s memory alive, but that didn’t turn out so well, so I fled. I had responsibilities and I didn’t rise up to them. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry for letting the family crumble.”

“Kurama, allow me to be frank here,” Kokuo said, with an air of certainty around them.

“Uuhh, Koko, you might want to read the mindscape a little bit,” Saiken hesitantly interrupted. But, at that point, Kokuo could not be deterred.

“We all have complicated relationships with the man who brought us into existence. I have been reevaluating my relationship with him as well, in light of Sen’s induction into our family. But, in that process, I realized that the Sage was wholly unfair to you, Kurama.

“We also all know how much he favored his human children over us, despite our shared lineage; and we all know how he saddled the sole responsibility to keeping the peace within the family on you, Kurama. My thesis is this, I suspect that he knew you were still quite on the family you thought you had, which lead him to saddle you with a responsibility that—quite frankly—you were unequipped to handle.

“You, out of all of us nine siblings, held on to the Sage the longest. While all of us were edging closer and closer to the peripheries of the clan, you still remained faithfully by the Sage’s side. I have to admit, we were quite chagrined at your enthrallment at the hands of our human relatives. I was particularly incensed at how you were so easily lead on.

“My standing hypothesis is that this faint animosity is one of the reasons why we found it so easy to leave the family after the Sage’s human children killed each other. I also suspect that this was the reason of the severity of your subsequent heartbreak and millennia long separation from the rest of us. But, I have to assert, you are not a bad brother.”

“But I—”

“I am not finished, Kurama-nii,” Kokuo spoke, as Kurama’s eyes widened at the sudden use of the honorific. “You were not a bad brother, insomuch as we were bad siblings. We knew of the hurt you felt, and we knew of the weight you bore on your shoulders—yet we did nothing to help ease your burden.

“Yet, after all this time, and all this inaction, it was you who brought the family together again, through your desire to help Sen. I cannot ask for an apology, as it is simply too late to do so. Rather, I would ask for atonement for my inconsideration. Which is why we all eagerly accepted your request of fostering Sen in our territories for some time. Well, in retrospect Shukaku and Son Goku were not particularly eager at the initial idea, but they were ultimately convinced of its merits. You are bringing this family closer together as we speak, and we are ready to help you do so.”

Kurama was still rather stunned at Kokuo’s monologue, so Saiken saw his opportunity to speak and pounced on it. “If it makes anyone feel any better, I learned that all families are kinda bad. Families are inconsiderate of each other’s wants, and families put us on the spot sometimes. But, what brings us all closer together would be that—at the end of the millennia—we know what we have each other’s fur and hide.

“Kuku and Tabi both hate each other, but I know that both of you would help each other in a pinch. Koko doesn’t particularly like anyone, but they’ve been slowly coming out of their shell. Gugu is quiet, Shushu is pissy and Gogo is a meanie, but we all love each other in our own special way.

“My point is, we’re not a perfect family, and I don’t think we’ll ever be what the Sage wanted our family to be, but we’re getting there. Yeah, we might move at _my_ pace, and yeah, we do have to deal with Shushu and Gogo’s temper tantrums, but we’re getting there all the same. And that’s because of you Kuku-nii. Like what Koko said, you’re bringing us together again, and this time, we’re not gonna separate that easily anymore. Besides, Sen makes atonement easy. They’re a pleasure to live with.”

Once again, silence prevailed over the little powwow before a faint sniffle could be heard over the crackling of the fire. “You dipshits turned out well, didn’t you,” Kurama said as his snout twitched and sniffed. “I… I’m sorry, again. And I want to make it better… And… Thanks. You don’t know how much it means to hear that.” With that, the siblings found themselves piling in on top of one another, fur, hide, shell and all.

* * *

“Oh how marvelous it is to see you again, Sen,” I heard Isobu’s low rumble as I approached the tiny island I stopped at so many months ago.

“Likewise, Isobu,” I replied, as I stepped onto the sand, only feeling slightly winded.

“Hmmm, I see you’ve indeed improved quite a bit while you were under Saiken’s care. Would you care to show me what you’ve learned?”

“Not at all, Isobu, not at all. Saiken was a very good teacher.”

“He was, now was he?” Isobu said, clearly taken aback by my statement.

“Yes. Saiken may be prone to droning on, and he may be slightly fickle, but he is a good teacher. Moreover, he has a veritably endless wellspring of patience to draw on.”

“Such is the temperament of one who was forced to deal with Shukaku, Matatabi and Son-Goku for prolonged periods of time. Saiken was the one the Sage tasked with caring for us younger siblings, you know?”

“Indeed?”

“Indeed. Now come, let us return to the reef before twilight sets in. Tomorrow, I shall whip up a storm for us to revel in. But, for now, let us journey home so you may put your feet up and rest.”

* * *

“Mito-hime, the Senju clan have arrived in Uzushio proper,” Taemon Nejire gruffly spoke, as he shook Mito out of her thoughts. Uzushio had recently struck a trade deal with the Senju clan of the mainland, due to Senju Butsuma commissioning the Uzushio academics for a tricky sealing formula that could keep out pests off of the Senju sandalwood trees. Mariko, seeing that her granddaughter was suitably mature to handle a trade deal, decided that Mito would oversee this particular transaction.

Straightening her robes, Mito stood up from her seat and glided down through the hardwood corridors. Like a woodblock printer painstakingly swabbing on color to the print, she carefully applied her the regal gaze and ethereal gait her grandmother employed when hosting visiting dignitaries. Calming her heart, she entered the room where she was expected to meet the Senju clan members, and was greeted with the none too pleasant countenance of Senju Butsuma.

He looked as if someone had drunkenly hewn on a likeness of a face into a gnarled tree trunk. His nose rested at a rather awkward angle, no doubt due to a punch that rearranged bone. His eyes were sunken and his cheeks were almost hollow. In short, his entire figure underlined a certain sense of insurmountable exhaustion.

“Mito-hime,” He said as he stood from his seiza to bow. “How generous you are to treat our lowly selves with the vision of your countenance.”

Bringing her sleeve over her mouth, she gave a graceful nod back at the tired patriarch. “Your continued patronage of our clan is much appreciated, Senju-san.” _Phew_ , Mito thought to herself, _Thank goodness they aren’t related to any daimyo, otherwise I’d have to shift to an entirely different vocabulary._

“Why, we are most honored to collaborate with the esteemed academicians of Uzushio, for the continued betterment of our clan’s state of living,” He calmly spoke. “Do forgive my forwardness, but I have brought my scion to this meeting.

“As of late, I have been increasing his responsibilities to ready him for assuming the mantle of Senju patriarch when I depart from this world. After all, one cannot be too overconfident in preparing their heirs to carry on their legacy,” He said as he fixed a calm but judgmental gaze in Mito’s general direction. 

_If that withered tree stump thinks he can lecture me about being inexperienced_ , Mito inwardly seethed, as her expression did not betray her anger. _Then he shan’t mind me trading barbs if he doles them out so casually._

“You are most wise to do so, Senju-san,” Mito replied, as she brought out the fan that was tucked away in her sleeve. “For it is always wise to remember the fleeting nature of life. One must cull old trees in order to make room for new ones to ensure the survival of the orchard.”

Seeing Senju Butsuma’s face contort ever so slightly brought an immense amount of joy to Mito’s heart. _Heh_ , she thought, _Turnabout is fair play_. “Now, where is this scion you speak of? Bring him here so I can meet him.”

“As you command, Mito-hime.”

Softly, the shoji door opened to reveal a strapping young man with laquer black hair cascading from his head down over his back. As Mito’s eyes became fixed on the Senju heir, she surmised that he was just about her age. Unlike his father, his face was firm and with substance, not hollowed and hewn out. His face was like a leaf graced with morning dew, substantive, evergreen and hopeful. His eyes glittered like polished onyx stones, and his complexion reminded Mito of fertile soil.

As her eyes roamed the broad expanse of Hashirama’s shoulders, she did not see the faint flush blooming across his face. “Uuuh,” He began as his gaze was fixed on Mito’s figure.

“Speak clearly, boy,” Senju Butsuma all but snarled.

“Oh right,” Hashirama hastily said as he schooled his expression to one of shoddily practiced formality. “It is an honor to be in your esteemed presence, Mito-hime.”

 _The honor is all mine_ , Mito thought to herself. In her seventeen years of life, not once had she seen a specimen as strapping as Hashirama. “Your graciousness is welcomed, Hashirama-kun. Now, if the ritual pleasantries are out of the way, would you please follow me into the Uzumaki library? I think you shall find that our Sealing Masters have invented an ingenious security system for your orchards.”

“I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with!” Hashirama piped up, as his gaze firmly lingered on Mito’s back, earning him a swift smack from his father. Lost in their interaction, the three shinobi did not notice the faint rattling of the roof tiles. A storm was whipping up in the horizon as familiar figures lunged, ducked and danced through waves, well into the night.

* * *

On the eve of my second departure from Isobu’s sea, Isobu decided to prime me for my journey ahead. “As you may have realized, what Saiken and I have been teaching you is to _react_ to nature chakra. I taught you how to use the chakra of the sea and sand in order to swim and stand on water. Saiken taught you how to use the ambient earth and spring chakra in order to make his various elixirs.

“While this may seem like active uses of chakra, in the grand scheme of things, this is the truly passive way of using chakra.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the concepts Isobu was throwing out.

“Gyuki can delve into the more philosophical aspects of this, and Kokuo can eventually help you understand the higher order categorizations and specific semantics of chakra theory. So, for now, do not worry about understanding this well. At its most basic, the Sage theorized that there were three states of using any type of chakra: the passive, neutral and active stages.

“The passive aspect of chakra is the type charka that you are most familiar to, nature chakra. You have learned how to become a vessel of nature chakra, interacting with other kinds of nature chakra," Isobu stopped talking to mull over the choices of his next few words. "The classification of this passive stage is really quite nebulous, I'm afraid. You'll have to ask Kokuo about the specifics, but really, the passive stage of chakra is when your body merely acts as either a vessel or a channel for nature chakra. You are not doing anything, for it is the chakra that is flowing through you in order to become something tangible. Am I making sense? Please tell me if I degenerate into rambling."

"I understand you... Somewhat," I replied. 

"Well, somewhat of an understanding is better than a total lack of understanding, no? Kokuo will help you more in this regard. Now, where was I?"

"You just finished explaining the passive aspect of chakra." 

“Ah yes, then we have the neutral stage. This stage is the harmonization of your internal chakra. Consequently, this is the stage that we suspect you will have the hardest time learning.”

“We?”

“The siblings have been comparing notes on your curriculum,” Isobu proudly declared. “Based on what Saiken and I taught you, the others are tailoring their own lessons to fit the pace of your learning."

“Anywho, where was I? I am very sorry for loosing my tangents so often. It is as though my thoughts became a school minnows scattered by sharks.”

“You were talking about the neutral stage of chakra,” I supplied.

“Ah, anyhow, the neutral stage of chakra places specific emphasis on your internal chakra. The reason why you learned what I taught you so quickly was because of the nature of your tenketsu. Meaning, because Kurama forcibly opened all of your tenketsu, nature chakra has a particularly easy time attaining the harmony that this stage requires. You see, what little chakra your internal core could produce is immediately sapped away by nature chakra, and funneled out of your body by your extremely wide tenketsu. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Was my shaky reply.

“Because of this, your internal chakra is in a constant state of discord. Thus, Gyuki, Choumei and Kokuo have taken it upon themselves to further your education in this area of chakra. Kokuo in particular is very, very excited to teach you the more esoteric natures of neutral chakra.

“And finally, we have active chakra. This is the aspect of chakra that most humans specialize in. Although there are pockets of humans who specialize in mastering neutral chakra, most tend towards active chakra due to the fact that this is the most martial aspect of chakra usage.

“This aspect of chakra requires for its practitioners to use their inner chakra in order to act and react to things around them. Shukaku, Matatabi, Son Goku and Kurama are the specialists of active chakra in our little family—and they will no doubt hammer this practice into every muscle of your body.”

“Wow, that’s… That’s a lot.”

“Indeed,” Isobu said as his eye curled into a contented crescent shape. “I am truly sorry for jumping all of this information on you, but I thought it best for you to be aware of this moving forward.

“Choumei has started expanding their sensing reach over the continent again, and they tell us that wars have been stopping in the mainland.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but just because the humans aren’t active does not mean that we can afford to let our guard down. Kurama knew that you would be safer with Saiken and I first, as our remoteness and isolation lends to our security. But, when you find yourself in the continent, do be careful. After all—those humans can be horribly violent when it so strikes them. 

“I know that you have learned about what the humans think of us, and I know that you have seen relatively fewer stretches of bloodshed, but please be careful out there.”

“I will, Isobu. I’ll be as careful as I can be,” I said, as my eyes stung with tears.

“That is all I can ask of you, Sen,” Isobu calmly replied. 

“May… May I hug you?”

“You need not ask, Sen.”

Surging forward like the sea’s chakra, I wrapped Isobu into a warm embrace. I could feel mossy arms wrapping around my torso as Isobu returned my hug. For a few minutes, we stayed silent as the waves of the azure-blue sea lazily lapped around us. As the ominous danger of Isobu's warning etched itself into my mind, I decided that now was not the time for worry, but the time for rest before the journey to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> firstly, im sorry for the relatively slow chapter, but it's really important to have a lot of *setup* for the later chapters, so please bear with me :>
> 
> also, PART 1 IS FINALLY COMPLETE!!! i am beyond excited to show you part 2 of the story, and i am so thrilled that you've enjoyed part 1 so much! things will kinda sorta pick up in pace after this, so the plot can shift from slowly plodding along to a brisk jog now :) 
> 
> lastly, i want to wish all of my wonderful readers a safe, happy and healthy new year.


	12. Stories from the Mountains and Clouds Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero finally makes their way to the next leg of their journey, up the craggy mountain paths and into the clouds.

From where I was sitting on Kame's back, the Peninsula of Clouds seemed to be a frightening mixture of harshness and beauty, cutting an imposing figure of looming white-gray against the deep blue of the bay water. I had pestered Isobu to let me carry my own weight from the Archipelago of Coral to the secluded bay in the Peninsula of Clouds that Isobu was supposed to drop me off in. _I have no doubt of your capabilities, but you will need to conserve your strength,_ Isobu gently said as he hoisted me onto Kame's back with one of his tails. _Climbing the mountains over there is no easy feat. Conserve your energy and let Kame help ferry you there._

Now, after Isobu and Kame waved me a final goodbye as they slipped into the waves themselves, I realized why Isobu told me to conserve my energy. Trekking up the mountain trail proved to be challenging to say the least. Harsh lines of grey and shale white cut across the landscape as far as the eye could see. Craggy cliff-sides and soaring peaks raked into the vast expanses of billowing clouds overhead—and I was somehow expected to traverse this by myself, albeit with very specific instructions.

 _Now, listen to me very, very carefully. These are the directions you need to follow in order to get to your destination,_ Isobu said as he rested on the pebble beach right before letting me go on my climb. _First, you will have to climb up that mountain, He said as he pointed to the steep slope that rose up out of the beach and into the sky. Then, once you’ve finally climbed down the mountain and into the gorge below, go left and stay left for the next five gorges. Is this clear?_

After seeing my affirmative nod, Isobu continued on telling me the path I needed to travel to reach my destination. This flood of directions lasted for an hour and a half, and when I reached the first gorge on my journey, I understood why the instructions were so detailed; all the gorges looked the same. _Well then_ , I thought to myself, _It seems to me that Isobu was right in priming me for the climb_.

Grumbling, I soon had to amend my earlier opinion of mountain climbing being simply challenging. Challenging was an understatement—it was _excruciating_. I could feel every muscle in my body slowly get beset with aches and pains as the climbs got longer and harder. The sun was beating down on me, and the bone white ground absorbed the sweat trickling down my brow at an alarming rate. Nevertheless, I persisted, waiting to see the impressive vistas that the peaks had to offer. 

Rounding the path, I had to stop myself from forging mindlessly onward, as the path suddenly dropped into a near vertical cliff-side down into a ravine below. The consolation for nearly plummeting to my death—however—was really the view. The near perfect triangles of the mountains raked through the sea of white clouds, churning above the horizon. The clouds themselves were full to bursting with water and energy—always threatening to break out into a sudden thunderstorm. Reaching my senses out into the sky, I could feel surging yet incredibly comforting masses of water chakra being blown along the invisible paths of air. Breathing in, I steeled myself and resumed my journey. 

Yet again, I had to amend my opinion. The views were lovely, and wonderful—but were they really worth it? I had come to the conclusion that they were certainly not worth the fatigue and ever-mounting nausea I felt from the chakra of the mountains. As I climbed down into the gorge, I was greeted with the same, inhospitable scenery I’d seen throughout my climb up the mountains. White-gray stone cascaded into ruddy and infertile soil. The shrubs that dotted the cliff faces were coarse, brown and prickly, and the clouds loomed above everything—ever ominous and ever menacing. 

The mountain's chakra didn't necessarily help either. I was used to standing on shifting water, and living and breathing through water chakra. I was _not_ used to the unrelenting and unforgiving harshness of this type of earth chakra. Saiken did mention that different types of earth had different qualities in their chakra, but I did not anticipate that the difference was to this extreme extent. But, the kicker was the mounting queasiness knotting my stomach. It was a land sickness, an inversion of sea sickness. Everything was just simply too stable and it was throwing me off immensely. 

Composing myself, I trudged towards a rather pathetic little brook to drink out of. As I brought the cupped water to my hands closer to my face, I mentally retraced my steps. I’ve made it through twelve gorges now, and I should just be about nearing the last junction of my trip. However, the taste of the water shook me out of my reverie. _Goodness gracious, this water tastes horrible,_ I thought to myself as I spat out the water in my mouth _. Ugh, I take it this is the mountain’s way of telling me that I should start getting a move on._

Wheezing and panting, I finally stumbled my way to the last gorge on the journey. In so many words, I was absolutely wrecked. Kame had warned me about the initial shock of the nature chakra shifting from walking on fluids to solid land. Everything was just so… stable, and it was making me slightly queasy. I was used to the ever-shifting, chakra of the sea, not the unyielding chakra of the cliffside.

Just as I was about to keel over from that oppressively nauseous feeling, a sturdy hand—or should I say, tail—hoisted me off the ground. Bringing myself to my senses, I turned to face my savior. He was roughly nearing seven feet in hight, with maroon skin that could rival Mito's hair. Seven octopus tentacles flared behind him while the remaining one was hoisting me up. His face was fixed in an expression of abject serenity as he showed me a gentle smile. “So, you must be the Sen that’s been getting rave reviews from Isobu and Saiken.”

I cleared my throat in and started to introduce myself. “Hello, Gyuki, It is a pleasure to meet yo—” But right in the middle of my introduction, the queasiness caught up to me—purging my stomach of my earlier breakfast.

“Oh dear,” Gyuki said, still maintaining his expression of tranquility. “It seems that chakra shock has gotten to you. In fairness, you’ve done an admirable job climbing this far without letting it bog you down. Come, let’s get you to a hearthside before night sets in.”

“Much obliged,” I weakly grit out.

“No bother at all,” Gyuki kindly responded.

“I really, really am so, so, sorry,” I said as I took a long, hearty sip out of one of the heavy duty ceramic cups Mayu gave me before I left the Isles of Mist.

“As I’ve repeated several times prior, it really is no bother. Once you’ve taken care of my younger siblings, all messes become relative,” Gyuki said as he tended to the fire. Wincing, I made a mental note to stop apologizing so often—then promptly proceeded to apologize for apologizing.

“Now, we’ve had enough apologizing for the next month. Why don’t you tell me how your travels are going so far?”

“With pleasure,” I replied as I fixed myself as much as I could to look presentable for when I told Gyuki about my journeys so far.

“You know, Isobu has always been the ideal younger sibling,” Gyuki mused as I recounted my experiences in the Archipelago of Coral in the Land of Waves. “He was the most unproblematic of the entire clutch. Now, that title is firmly in a three way deadlock between Shukaku, Matatabi and Son Goku.

“For the life of me, I don’t know what went wrong with them, but little Isobu had none of that. He was really just more content mulling about, puttering to himself in a pool of water.”

“Well I think he really grew wonderfully into his title of Gardener of Reefs and Master of Many Waters,” I said as I couldn’t help but feel slightly defensive of Isobu.

“I do too! And since the conversation has turned to the topic of titles, let me tell you a secret,” Gyuki said, as he conspiratorially leaned towards me. “With regard to our formal titles, Saiken’s little epithet of ‘Master of Sixty Thousand Elixirs’, is completely self-styled.”

“Oh?”

“Oh indeed,” Gyuki said, looking ever more mischievous. “The Sage gave us titles several millennia ago, and Saiken didn’t originally have that title. I assume it’s from a little rebellious phase he underwent when Indra and Ashura were fighting, but I remember that I was beyond elated that he was carving his own niche in the family.”

“He certainly has… melted into the bedrock differently, hasn’t he?”

“What a wonderful little turn of phrase, so absolutely appropriate to Saiken!”

“Thank you!”

“And another thing, I’m not quite sure that Saiken has really truly made that many elixirs. He probably needed a number to fit into the theme of his tails. To tell you the truth, I would estimate that he’s only recently breached forty thousand elixirs. But—nevertheless—I’m still happy that he’s chugging along well at his own pace.”

“If you don’t mind me asking Gyuki, do you have a title?”

“Why yes, yes I do.”

“Would you mind telling it to me?”

“Certainly not,” Gyuki said as he sat straighter and puffed his chest out, with his tails artfully coiled behind him. “For I, am Gyuki, Son of the Sage, Warden of Harmony and Scryer of Seals.”

“I’ve always hated that name. So pretentious,” Purred a low, silky voice from the mouth of the cave.

Gyuki immediately let out a world-weary sigh at the sound of the new presence. His face was slowly sapped out of its expression of serenity into one of frustrated tolerance. “Matatabi,” He said with all the disappointment that he could muster. “I thought we agreed to remain separate.”

“But I was getting bored, brother dear. And, I simply couldn’t wait that long” Matatabi said as a lion sized cat slinked forward, swathed in tongues of blue fire. But, what shocked me out of my tiredness was the glint reflecting in her deep, dandelion yellow eyes—as well as the wicked shine of the fangs in her smile. “Besides, the kitten is already in our neck of the woods, so I don’t really see why I can't introduce myself a little bit early.”

Pinching the bridge of his snout, Gyuki closed his eyes and breathed in. “Need I remind you, sister dear, that we _agreed_ that Sen would spend at most two years with me, then they would go to your territory to spend two years with _you_.”

“Pish posh,” Matatabi said as she fearlessly padded forward to where I was sitting. “We can save time and effort if we condense both visits into one big one. That way, Sen gets both physical and mental training at the same time.”

Gyuki immediately tensed to refute the idea before falling into a thoughtful silence, seemingly considering the merits of Matatabi's idea. “Admit it, my idea is right,” Matatabi gleefully cackled as she circled behind me. At that point, tiredness was starting to turn my limbs into lead, so I began to sag in my seat.

Sensing my apparent sleepiness, Matatabi cozied up by my back. Her flames only looked threatening at a distance, but she had probably tempered them for me as the flames just felt perfectly warm. “Now, do shut up, brother dearest. Don’t you see that our little ward is practically falling asleep with exhaustion? You’re such a horrible host.”

“It’s not my fault Matatabi,” Gyuki said through gritted teeth, with his serenity completely evaporated at this point. “Sen is just having trouble acclimatizing to the chakra of the mountains. They did spend close to four and a half years living by water after all.”

“For all those smarts, brother Isobu really didn’t think of acclimatizing Sen to the chakra here?”

“It seems like it.”

“Oh well,” Matatabi said as she nuzzled into my side. “Then there’s only one thing to remedy this situation.”

“A one week grace period of rest and meditation?” Gyuki patiently hazarded. 

“No!” Matatabi snapped back in protest. “A trial by fire.”

“Huh?” I said as I tried to blink away my tiredness and droopy eyes when a trial by fire was mentioned. “Fire? Trial? What’s happen—”

“Shh, kitten,” Matatabi said as she promptly smothered me with one of her tails, engulfing me in a buttery warmth. “Now’s not the time for worry. Just sleep.”

“As much as it chagrins me to admit it, my delightful force of nature of a sister is right,” Gyuki said as he lumbered forward to sit beside Matatabi. “Rest well, and sleep. You’ll need all the energy you can muster for tomorrow.” And with that, Gyuki gently tapped one maroon finger to my forehead, and I fell into a sound and dreamless sleep.

* * *

“Now, we have decided to proceed with your training as planned,” Matatabi spoke with a nonchalant air of authority as I wrung the sleep from my body by warming my feet by the fire that was still lingering on from last night. Whatever Gyuki had done gave me an extremely restful sleep the night before, and in many ways—that sleep was extremely important in order to stockpile my energy for the bickering between siblings.

“Correction,” Gyuki piped up with an exceedingly exasperated tone. “We haven’t decided on our course of action yet, because someone couldn’t wait patiently for two years as we planned.”

Matatabi huffed a plume of smoke in indigence before forging on. “Well, we would have been able to reach a decision if you would stop remaining indecisive.”

“You’re one to talk, my darling sister,” Gyuki sighed. “At least I’m not one for rushing in head first before thinking about consequences later on.” A low hiss made its way out of Matatabi’s mouth as she frustratingly pawed the ground.

“I don’t see why I cannot do both of your training regimens on the same day,” I absentmindedly said as the warmth from the fire trickled through my feet, up my body. I have to confess, at that point, I really wasn’t minding what I was saying—as I was still half asleep at the time; so I couldn’t help myself from letting my idea tumble out of my mouth.

“Oh? Would you care to explain?” Gyuki asked.

“Not at all. I could train with Gyuki from dawn to noon and Matatabi from noon to twilight. Then I can have the night to myself to rest.”

“’Atta kitten,” Matatabi cackled as she playfully slapped a searing paw on the back of my head, painfully singing me out of my reverie. “Good on you, taking the initiative to learn and whatnot!”

“Ow!”

“Hmm, that does solve most of our problems doesn’t it?” Gyuki said as he became submerged in deep thought. “We can have Sen here with us for four years, then they’d go on to the next leg of their journey in the mainland.”

“Indeed it does, brother dear,” Matatabi contentedly purred as she started to prowl the room with restless energy.

“Then it’s settled!” Gyuki declared. “You’ll be with me in the mornings and you’ll be with Matatabi in the afternoons.”

“Oh kitten,” Matatabi said as she moved to pick me up by the scruff of my neck. “We’re going to have so much fun together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowza i am tireeeeeed but i am happy that I finished this chapter !!! i'm currently in my semestral break, so i just hAD to get at least one chapter in by the end of the break. now this is where the story really starts to pick up steam!!! 
> 
> i'm excited to introduce you to the tired big brotherness of Gyuki and the catty (no pun intended) little sisterness of Matatabi. shenanigans will ensue, people will be dunked in Saiken's healing elixirs, seals will be shoddily drawn, and the back of sen's head will forever be singed with the outline of a paw print. AAAAH IM JUST SO EXCITED TO KEEP ON WRITING. 
> 
> -becca d. buss


	13. Stories from the Mountains and Clouds Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero goes through their first leg of their training and it goes about as well as their trip up the mountains... that is to say not very well at all. Then, we listen in to another one of the bijuu siblings' heart to heart conversations. And lastly, we catch up to another one of our heroes from several chapters ago to find them in dire straits.

“Now,” Gyuki patiently repeated for the fifteenth time that morning. “As I said before, seals are an induced homeostasis produced through one’s internal chakra being poured into a matrix made out of ink.”

“Yes, I understand that,” I repeated through gritted teeth—also for the fifteenth time that morning. 

“Then why don’t we review the mistakes you’ve made earlier,” Gyuki said, still maintaining that air of serenity he carried around as he gestured to the madness that was splattered across the mountain top we were studying on.

Seal matrix upon seal matrix was crudely drawn on the mountain earth—all of which were as dead as a doorknob. You see, apparently, seals relied heavily on internal chakra in order to operate. Which was, coincidentally, the one thing that I sorely lacked. Never one to shy from a challenge, Gyuki peppily told me not to be discouraged. It was simply a matter of time before I ‘cracked’ how to do it. Girding my loins, I took a deep breath in and forged on with the work—because it was only four hours past dawn, and I still had a _long_ day ahead.

Gyuki—as agreed upon—woke me up at the crack of dawn to start our daily pilgrimage up one of the nearer mountains. ‘Meditative exercise’ he called it. ‘Fun and educational’ he called it. However, after repeating these ‘fun and educational meditative exercises’ that were supposedly meant to improve my control of my internal chakra, I now realized that they were some form of abstract torture.

Day after day, Gyuki marched me up the mountain as I compressed and expanded my internal chakra into the shapes he specified—and day after day, as noon approached, a numbness beset my head like fog blanketing the sea in the Isles of Mist. Chakra control drills were excruciatingly boring, and it did _not_ help that every time I tried to muster my chakra up, it would simply leak out of my body like water would leak out of a sieve.

“I keep trying, but I simply cannot muster enough of my internal chakra to charge a matrix,” I said as the square below me, carefully drawn out with Gyuki’s ink, glowed a faint periwinkle blue before dissipating.

Still maintaining that smile of his, for the now sixteenth time that morning, Gyuki gently patted my shoulder and said: "Now why don't we try that again?" 

“What on earth were you teaching Sen, brother Isobu?”

“Well, first, would you mind explaining what you mean, Matatabi?” Isobu said as he tilted his head in confusion.

“I thought you taught them how to water walk already,” Matatabi irritatingly huffed, as she restlessly padded around the bijuu mindscape—carefully weaving in between Kokuo’s tails.

“Yes I—”

“Then why is Sen so weak?” Matatabi pouted.

Before Isobu was about to get a word in, edgewise, Matatabi continued on with her rant. “They’re a good worker, I’ll give Sen that, at least. But they can’t even last for a minute in a game of tag. It’s like their body is made out of fish guts, no strength—no endurance and painfully squishy.”

Kurama heaved an exasperated huff as he pinched the bridge of his muzzle. “That’s why we’re training Sen, dumba—'Tabi. You can’t expect them to be good at things right as they start learning them.”

“Rue the day when Kurama becomes the voice of reason, but I do have to agree with him,” Kokuo interjected. “We are teaching Sen for a reason, and when teaching—students are more than likely to start slow in learning.”

Matatabi’s ears perked up and her tails of flame expectantly swished around the mindscape. “All right, all right. I understand. Brother Gyuki is coming, which means that I’ll be going,” She said as she bounded to the edges of the mindscape, not vanishing before hollering out a last “Goodbye, my siblings dearest!” With a voice that oozed excitement. Gyuki tiredly trudged into the mindscape, before unceremoniously collapsing in a heap beside Kokuo.

“Well, you certainly seem tired,” Kokuo said as one of their tails prodded Gyuki’s side.

Kurama snorted at that, “That’s putting it nicely. You look like shit.” Gyuki immediately bristled at that, as his tentacles draped in on themselves to curl up around him defensively. Pinching the brow of his snout, he drew in a sharp breath before launching into an exasperated and evidently, well-rehearsed speech.

“Sen is horrible, _horrible_ at controlling their chakra. It’s like trying to hold water in a bucket full of holes. They can’t hold their ink well, they can’t charge the ink with their chakra—it’s always slightly too little or slightly too much. That’s if they manage to effectively visualize the seal in their head. I am truly and utterly at my wits end,” Gyuki said as he leveled an accusatory glare in Kurama's direction.

“Maybe you should explain the history of seals before delving into the theory,” Choumei hazarded as their mandibles clicked in an inquisitive tone. “Sen seems to thrive off of ‘big strokes’ as Isobu and Saiken call it, but maybe giving a short context through describing the history of sealing would do the trick?”

Gyuki’s shoulders sagged with a defeated weight. “That’s worth a try,” He sighed, “Well, at this point, anything would be worth a try. I just hope Matatabi is faring better than I am.”

* * *

“Get up,” Matatabi said with a disappointed sigh as she slinked off my back, leaving a singing sear on the back panel of my last good shirt. “You’re still too slow.”

“Well, I would get faster if you would make it a little bit easier for me to learn,” I said through gritted teeth as I tiredly stood up. Matatabi’s flames prickled at that. My hair was disheveled, my brain—still numb from Gyuki’s earlier sealing lesson—was reduced to putty, and my patience was _running_ extremely thin with Matatabi’s teaching methods.

As the noonday sun beat down its cruel heat onto the white expanses of mountains, Matatabi thought that playing ‘tag’ was the best way to teach me how to start learning active chakra. This ‘tag’—and I use the term loosely—was just me running as fast and as far away from Matatabi as possible. Otherwise, I would get a lion sized cat pouncing me to the ground.

Yes, Kurama did teach me how to channel chakra into my limbs to run in preparation for the extensive water-walking that I would soon encounter. And yes, Isobu helped me further refine learning how to run with chakra. But, Matatabi seemed to be unaware of my need to adjust to the mountain’s chakra. Water walking was easy. All you needed to do was to filter the water chakra through the tenketsu in your feet and back into the sea. If you kept on doing that, then you could walk and run on any surface of water just fine.

The earth’s chakra, was a completely different beast. I learned very early on that earth chakra was not as easily compelled to movement like water chakra. Very much like its element, earth charka was tough, immobile and stubborn—it pushed back rather than flowed. This resulted in me falling flat on my face whenever I subconsciously reverted back to water walking. 

“Again,” Matatabi mirthlessly declared, as she crouched low like a cat ready to pounce on their prey. Resigning myself for the inevitable, I steeled myself for the inevitable and bolted, running as fast as I could to the edge of the cleared-out mountain top in a bid to loose Matatabi as I scaled down the mountain.

But, for the umpteenth time that day, blue fire flickered soundlessly into my peripheral vision as a boulder-like weight flattened me on my back. “You really aren’t improving,” Matatabi said, with all traces of her mirth and amusement gone from her voice.

“I would improve,” I shouted into the dirt, “If you would give me a fair game.”

“Life isn’t fair,” Matatabi said coolly as the searing sensation on my back didn’t let go.

“That’s it,” I declared as I poured the last ounces of my strength to dig free from Matatabi’s weight. “I’m done. You are a horrible teacher, you and Gyuki both.”

“And _you’re_ a horrible student,” Matatabi countered. “You keep on making excuses for yourself when you don’t like what is being taught. For the weeks I've been teaching you, you always try to hide behind excuses. It's always something else's fault with you, never your own. 

"You get so easily discouraged, and when you do, you immediately think: _Oh well, I tried. I guess I just can't do it_. And, if you get that in your head, you become as stubborn and as unmovable as a mountain,” I tried to dig into my anger and pent up frustration for something, anything to reply with. But, I only saw Matatabi’s unimpressed stare and truth beaming out of her golden-yellow eyes.

_She was right_ , I realized. _And I was wrong._ Something in me snapped and I stormed off the clearing we were on, leaving Matatabi’s flames to flicker alone in the mountain wind.

* * *

Sachihiro Hatake—once again—found himself in a situation that didn’t look too good for his desire to remain alive. He and his brother, Horen, had just finished a mission, delivering a scroll to a minor daimyo in the ever-expanding Land of Clouds. But, as luck would have it, they were _not_ briefed about the amended relationships between the Lightning Clans of the Southern part of the Peninsula and the Thunder Clans of the North. Therefore, as they trekked back to their clan stronghold, they were ambushed by a platoon of shinobi.

Horen, the perennial golden child of the Hatake clan, was the first one to spring to action, his tiredness be damned. Sachihiro grimaced as he sprang into action himself, slashing and weaving his way through the enemy nin as his brother lead the charge.

As the fighting dragged on, the enemy shinobi corralled the brothers into a corner of the ravine. In a flurry of hand signs, the enemy nin rained a barrage of lasers and lightning down onto the now battered brothers. _The Hatake bounty_ , Sachihiro cursed under his breath. _Why did the old man have to piss off so many people like that?_

Grabbing Horen by the collar, Sachihiro used a repurposed variant of a prank jutsu he and Horen came up with when they were children and slipped into a hole that buried several meters into the ground under them. After shimmying down the hole, and clearing a little cavern for themselves with another low-level earth jutsu, Sachihiro finally allowed himself to relax.

“Dumbass,” Horen said as he gave a slight chop on the crown of Sachihiro’s head. “You should have left me there.”

“No,” Sachihiro said as his dark eyes zeroed in on his older brother’s exhausted figure. “I would _never_ leave you to die.”

Horen gave a smirk that was all teeth when he replied. “And that’s why you’re a shit shinobi.”

“Will you quit it?” Sachihiro snapped. “I saved your fucking life out there, the least you can do is show your younger brother some _gratitude_.”

“I’m injured,” Horen said, biting back at his younger brother. “I’m weak and I’m going to faint from blood loss soon. Those alliance bastards are going to keep on looking for us since your stunt from earlier is just going to slow them down.

“You could have left me there, and fled back to the compound, but _no_. You saved me and now you’re going to have to carry me back home which will make you even more of a target. From a worst-case scenario standpoint, you took the best possible option: me dying and you surviving, and blew that out of the fucking water.

“Now, we’re both going to be sitting ducks. You barely have any chakra left, and I’m going to pass out from a Sage forsaken mixture of chakra exhaustion, anger and fatigue soon. You gave our enemies both our heads,” Horen said as he jabbed a finger into Sachihiro’s chest.

_Breathe, Hiro, breathe,_ Sachihiro told himself as he attempted to process his brother’s rant. The first thing he decided to address was his brothers apparent injury. “Where are you hurt?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Another reason why you’re a shitty shinobi,” Horen mirthlessly chuckled as he sagged back onto one of the cavern’s walls. “Ever bothered to check my side?” He said as he pulled up his coat to reveal the void of dark red that was oozing out of his flank.

“I… I have some first aid supplies left,” Sachihiro said as he fumbled for his med kit on his back, before realizing that one of the enemy nin slashed it off as they were making their retreat.

“No, you don’t.”

Sighing, Sachihiro assessed the situation at hand. A.) His brother was now bleeding to death. B.) Enemy nin were still going to track them down, regardless of their situation. C.) They were about ten ri from the compound, without any medical equipment. With all of this in mind, Sachihiro came to the conclusion that there was nothing, absolutely nothing left for them to loose.

Breathing in, he decided to tell his brother his plan. “Where’s the last place any shinobi from the Peninsula of Clouds would go to?”

“What are you… Oh,” Horen said, as the realization of what Sachihiro was implying dawned upon him. “You Sage damned bastard,” He groaned. “I hate how much sense you’re making.”

“Don’t give me that,” Sachihiro tutted. “But hey, at least if things go south, at least the Hachibi would kill us rather than enemy shinobi.”

“If the Hachibi doesn’t kill you, I will. If the enemy shinobi don’t kill us, I’ll find your sorry ass in Yomi and give you a second death.”

“Yeah, yeah, old man,” Sachihiro said as he slung one of Horen’s arms around his shoulder. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

* * *

Just as Gyuki was about to slip out of the mindscape, Matatabi’s presence barreled into the Bijuu psyche. “Where are brother Isobu and brother Saiken?” She said with an uncharacteristic amount of coolness. In a moment, both Saiken and Isobu’s projections flickered into existence.

“You called?” Saiken lazily bubbled.

“How did you teach Sen,” Matatabi answered without any further preamble.

“I beg your pardon?” Isobu asked with a startled edge to his voice, clearly lost in the conversation.

“I need help,” Matatabi said with almost a whisper.

“Again, Matatabi,” Isobu calmly asked. “I beg your pardon?”

Matatabi then proceeded to sit up as straight as she could, as her flames flickered with a restless energy. “I… I need help.” Upon hearing Matatabi’s admission, Kokuo let out an involuntary gasp, Saiken’s eye stalks quirked themselves in confusion, Isobu’s lone eye widened an obscene amount, Gyuki nearly tripped and Kurama’s jaw remained firmly unhinged in shock.

“I… I’m not a good teacher,” Matatabi gritted out. “As much as I’d like to think that Sen’s a terrible student, I can’t help but feel that I’m failing them. I don’t know how to help them learn. I…I would appreciate any help you could give me.” Stunned silence reigned over the mindscape as the bijuu siblings tried to process what Matatabi had said.

Saiken was the first one to recover from the shock. “ _You_ need _our_ help Tabi?”

Matatabi turned and shot Saiken a cross between a snarl and a smile. “Yes,” She managed to grit out. “I may have… overestimated my teaching abilities.” Matatabi was about to continue, but she was promptly cut off with the cackling of Son Goku’s presence appearing in the mindscape.

“Oh it must be a bright day in Yomi today,” He chortled.

Son Goku’s laughter broke Kokuo’s shock. “Son Goku,” Kokuo gravely said as they dug their hooves into the mindscape’s ground. “This is a once in a millennia phenomenon. Do _not_ ruin it.”

“I can’t help it!” Son Goku guffawed as he pointed a finger at a now seething Matatabi. “I never would have guessed that a bitter, old hellcat like you would suddenly get a sense of compassion—maybe even humility?”

“That’s it,” Matatabi said as the thin veneer of her control finally snapped. “I’m going to cut off your balls very slowly then feed them to you.”

“Aww, are you going to throw a temper tantrum now?” Son Goku said as he rose to his full height. “You don’t like it, do you? You can’t take back the fact that for once in a millennium, you needed to swallow your pride and ask your _siblings_ for help?”

Matatabi let out a howl of anger as a blue blur surged to lop of Son Goku’s head. Not to be outdone, Son Goku let out a hell-waking screech as he bounded forward to meet Matatabi. But, the rest of the disgruntled siblings moved slightly faster than their brother and sister that were about to come to blows. Kokuo and Gyuki held Son Goku back while Isobu and Saiken held Matatabi back.

Kurama took a deep breath in and roared at the top of his lungs. “ _You dipshits!_ We were having a nice, family bonding moment—and you ruined it!” Before charging into the fray himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoooo boy i just finished my semestral break and i am very, very scared of this next semester, so i probably won't be able to update as often as i'd like to :< so im sorry in advance. ALSO, i am in the middle of editing in the age markers to all of the chapters to clear up the timeline of the story and how it meshes into canon. ALSO, sachihiro is a real delight to write, especially his dialogue with horen. i really hope you end up liking him as much as i loved writing him. 
> 
> honestly, sen just had a really fast time learning with isobu and saiken because they were teachers that matched sen's personality. matatabi and gyuki however, were two opposites of the same poles, so it was really, really fun exploring both the sibling dynamics as well as the dynamics between different bijuu and sen. 
> 
> NOTE ON THE AGES:  
> sen: 14  
> sachihiro: 15


	14. Stories from the Mountains and Clouds Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, our hero meets one of the most important people in their lives—though not in the way you would think. Our hero also gives a heartfelt apology and is forgiven very, very quickly.

_One more step,_ Sachihiro wheezed as pain made white spots dance across his vision. _Just one more step_. Bleeding and dogged, Sachihiro slowly made his way to Bullhorn Peak, the Hachibi’s mountain, carrying his older brother Horen—who passed out half an hour ago—in tow. He could feel Horen’s ragged breath against his shoulder as he forged on. But, as he stumbled down a cliffside, he chanced upon an unexpected sight.

A stranger, who looked almost about a year younger than himself, was pacing back and forth beside the little brook in the valley below. Sleek black hair cascaded down their head as their face was contorted in a conflicted expression. In an instant, Sachihiro instinctively concealed his presence went into shinobi mode to evaluate the stranger's threat level.

The first thing he focused on were the clothes. _Blue, deep ocean blue warp with a dark maroon weft…_ _Uzushio,_ He realized. _Uzushio fisherfolk clothes. Black hair that’s slightly bleached, a slight tan line peeking from under the arms, not that tall… corroborates living near the sea._

The stranger finally sensed their presence—which, granted—was faster than Sachihiro could anticipate for a semi-civilian. Sachihiro’s winter-grey eyes met the youth’s onyx-black ones for what seemed like an eternity of a stare. _Fuck_ , Sachihiro cursed under his breath as his breathing drew more and more ragged. They _looked_ like an ordinary civilian, but they weren’t phased by the sight of the two Hatake brothers all battered and bloody. _Used to seeing blood huh?_ Sachihiro thought to himself as he took in a breath full of air to discern the stranger's scent.

 _Nature,_ He thought, _They smell like nature._ The stranger's scent harkened the earth by the beach, tide rock battered by waves, clouds that threatened rain. Another breath, now unabashedly deep, revealed a scent beneath the ionized smell of storm clouds and the salty spray of the sea. _Forests,_ He thought, _Things that grow. The faint trail of animals through the woods, fox fur._

Sachihiro allowed himself to be lost in the scent of peace and indifferent nature for a fraction of a second before he steeled himself to attack. _The senses could be deceived_ , he reminded himself as his muscles tensed and as he braced Horen over his back. _They aren’t real_ , _they’re an enemy illusion_. Sachihiro told himself— _their scent isn’t human_. With that, he flicked his wrist to unsheathe his tanto blade and surged forward to cut down the illusion with what remaining strength was left in his body.

* * *

 _I should really have gritted on with Matatabi’s training,_ I told myself as I saw the silver haired teenager—who barely looked a year older than me—with another boy strapped on his back lunge to me, blade in hand. In that instant, I could feel my heart beating through my chest as everything became painfully slow. After all, when one trains with Matatabi, Daughter of the Sage, She who Flickers through Fire, The Whip of Wrath, the world seems to slow down for you.

I could see the fine, white hair of both teenager’s heads flutter in the wind. I could see the sickly pallor of the older teenager slung across the younger one’s back. I could see the dead-set determination of the younger of the two. His eyes were painfully resigned, determination cutting through his gaze like the sword in his hand.

My mind instantly recalled Matatabi’s lessons. _Feel the chakra pool in your feet_ , Matatabi purred, _Feel it collect in your soles, trust your gut and push off the ground. That’s all there is to it_. Steeling myself for the neigh inevitable bite of the blade, I put my chakra in a leap of faith, I closed my eyes and jumped.

Feeling the wind whip through my hair, for a split second, I saw the teenager’s gunmetal grey eyes widen in surprise as I leapt through the air and onto the cliffside. _Just keep on pushing_ , I could hear Matatabi say, and push I did—leaping across the sheer cliff, onto the ravine’s ground and back onto the cliff again.

Soon, it became a slightly slower game of tag with me weaving through the craggy rock, and the teenager doggedly following me. Cuts from sharp rock etched themselves in my body as I stumbled on, running. Over and over, we seemed to become a cat and a mouse as he chased me through the craggy valley. As my adrenaline seemed to fail me, I could sense him hastening his pace.

 _Induced homeostasis, induced homeostasis,_ I gritted out as I leapt onto a boulder and pushed one of my last bits of internal chakra into the stone, lifting me into the air right above my pursuer. _I don’t have any ink, so blood will have to do_ , I thought as I swabbed several of my fingertips over a cut in my forearm.

Channeling the drop of chakra left into my bloody fingertips, I reached out and smeared a slipshod seal onto my pursuers forehead and commanded: _Be at peace_. Almost immediately, my seal glowed bright blue, and my pursuer crumpled onto the ground sleeping.

Sighing, I slumped down onto the nearest boulder to catch several lungful’s of breath. “Now what do I do?” I grumbled as I shot an angry gaze at the boy who just chased me helter-skelter through the mountain pass. “I should leave… No… Ugh,” I groaned as I trudged over to the sleeping boy and his unconscious charge, slung over his back.

But, the moment I was able to take a good long look at the two, Katsuyu’s healing lessons all but kicked me into autopilot. _Lacerations across the bodies, deep enough to cut through what looks like battle gear,_ I thought to myself as I scanned the battered forms of their bodies.

 _Severe bleeding on the older one’s flank. Younger one looks to have cracked ribs. They were fighting, and they desperately need help_. In well-practiced motions, I wringed all of the water chakra from the mountain air, and I began slather them in a mild disinfecting elixir. I rolled up the now torn sleeves of my peasant dress, and set about making a hot spring.

* * *

Drifting slowly back to consciousness, Sachihiro thought he had finally reached Yomi. _Odd_ , He thought as he felt around the wet sensation on his skin. _I never thought that Yomi would be this wet._ Taking a deep breath in, Sachihiro realized some key things about his current situation.

One, his ribs didn’t jab his lungs anymore which meant that he was healed—but, upon further inspection, he realized that his knee was still slightly throbbing, so he was healing but not fully healed. Two, when he moved his arm to his side, he could feel that he wasn’t the only one floating in the water.

Twisting his head as much as his battered body could allow, he caught a glimpse of the grey hair of his older brother. And, as he looked up, his eyes locked with a gaze that was as dark and as deep as the night sky.

 _The stranger_ , He hazily thought. _The stranger that I chased_. What—

“Hello,” The stranger spoke with a voice that was as gentle as freshly fallen snow. “I mean you and your ward no harm.” Taking an abrupt breath to muster what voice he could, Sachihiro tried to talk but his throat failed him, only releasing a croak.

“Easy does it, now,” The stranger said as they drifted towards where he was floating. “Please do not exert yourself. You were quite injured, after all.”

“Why…” Sachihiro wheezed.

“Pardon, I was not able to hear you,” The person said as they dipped their head closer to Sachihiro. Taking a steadier breath, Sachihiro nearly lost himself in the person’s scent of forests, ocean and mountain rock, before mustering on.

“Why’d you save us?”

“I have to admit, I was tempted to leave you there after you chased me all this way. But…” They said as hair as dark as their eyes framed their face. “I… I could not find it in myself to leave you and your ward there. It was the only right thing to do.”

 _That_ caught Sachihiro off guard. _Altruism? Almost naïve altruism? Definitely not a shinobi then._ “What’s…”

The person tiredly spoke as they sighed. “Again, you might want to avoid speaking. Your body is still recovering, and you need all the energy you can save.”

“What’s… What’s your…” But, before Sachihiro could say the word ‘name’, he was interrupted by a gasp and a shout at the that came from the distance.

“Oh! Sen! Thank the Sage and the stars you’re alright! Matatabi and I were worried sick!”

“Gyuki?” The person—who was apparently called Sen—said with a voice as surprised as whoever Gyuki was. “Gyuki what are you doing here?”

“Well, Kurama was trying to throttle Son Goku when Choumei pointed out that they couldn’t sense your presence on the mountain top, so Kurama yelled at us for not watching over you, so Matatabi and I came out of the mindscape to look for you, and—Wait, what _is_ that?”

“Oh,” Sen asked. “Them?”

“Yes, I—Oh bless the Sage what happened to them?”

“I think they were caught in a fight?”

“They’re shinobi?” Gyuki squeaked, as Sachihiro tried to angle his head up to see Gyuki’s face.

“Oh my stars,” Gyuki gasped. “That one’s _moving_.”

“Yes, that one is still alive.”

“What happened to the other one?”

“It appears he is still knocked out.”

Sachihiro tried to pry his eyes open to look at Gyuki and Sen, but his eyes were unused to the sudden flood of light and stimulus, so he could only see Sen’s figure and the maroon haze of what he assumed Gyuki’s lacquered armor was, but he could smell Gyuki’s scent.

Very much like Sen’s own scent, he felt like he was smelling a part of nature rather than a human. He smelled the ionized smoke of thunder-seared ground. He smelled the billowing expanses of clouds. He smelled writing ink and rain. “Oh dear Sage,” He heard Gyuki yelp. “That one’s trying to look at us!”

“It appears so.”

“Why did you leave it—no, him—conscious?”

“I honestly do not know.”

“He could follow us back home! Oh no this won’t do at all.”

“Gyuki—Gyuki what are you doing? Wait, Gyuki—Gyuki, put that stone down. Gyuki!” Was the last thing Sachihiro heard before he felt a blunt force hit his forehead, pushing him back into the blank state of unconsciousness he woke up from.

“Gyuki!” I yelled. “Why’d you hurl that stone to that boy’s head?”

“He could follow us home,” Gyuki calmly replied. “I do not like encountering shinobi, and I certainly don’t want to potentially lead them to my home.”

“Well… All right, that makes sense,” I conceded.

“If there is one, then others are bound to follow. I learned that the hard way. Now, that’s that, ,” Gyuki said as he picked me up with one of his tails. “You’ve clearly had a tough day, so let’s go home.”

* * *

“Now, Sen,” Gyuki said as he set me back onto the familiar, ink-stained ground of our mountaintop. “We, the siblings, had a discussion about your education, and we’ve come to the conclusion that—”

“Sen!” I heard Matatabi’s voice echo through the craggy rock, and I braced myself for the tiring sensation of feeling the searing weight of her body bounding onto my back. But, all I could feel now was the gentle warmth of her flames curling against my body. “Oh kitten, don’t do that again.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I ducked my head down in shame. “I was tired, and I was full of pent-up frustration. I acted and talked out of line and I’m sorry—”

“Well,” Matatabi said as she curled around my back. “I should apologize too then. I was trying to hold you up to an unrealistic standard, and I was expecting you to learn at an unrealistic pace. For that, I am truly sorry.”

“As much as I love witnessing your personal growth, sister dearest,” Gyuki said in a strange tone of exasperation mixed with fond proudness. “That brings me to the topic I wanted to discuss with you in the first place. We both think that there needs to be a change in our teaching style, as well as your learning style to optimize how much you learn.

“We’re going to stop the daily half day lessons,” Gyuki began. “Instead, we’re going to have lessons on alternating days. One day with me, and the next day with Matatabi. Kokuo pointed out that the scheduling might have provided you with an unnecessary amount of duress.

“Secondly, we’re going to try to change our teaching approaches to make sure we find the right way to teach you. But, we want you to know that we are not going to become Saiken and Isobu. We will try our best to help teach you, but you must try your best to learn as well, so no hiding behind excuses when the work gets tough.”

“Besides,” Matatabi said. “Kurama said that you respond well to a good push here and there.”

“A moderate push,” Gyuki added.

“I’m sorry for making excuses for my learning,” I said, still hanging down my head. “I… I’ve had a difficult time acclimatizing to the mountain’s chakra, but I should not have let it affect my progress.”

“No matter,” Matatabi said as she nuzzled her comfortably warm fire against my flank. “Then we’ll be sure to include chakra exercises in your daily routine.”

“Indeed,” Gyuki chimed as he proceeded to grumble. “Not before Isobu thoroughly dressed us down for hitting the ground running with your training.”

Behind me, I could hear Matatabi tense ever so slightly. “Kitten,” She said with a low and cautious tone. “Why do you smell like _dog_?”

“I—”

“Oh, you know, sister dearest,” Gyuki hurriedly said as he desperately tried to re-route the course of the conversation. “Maybe your nose is just… Tired?”

“My nose is _never_ tired,” Matatabi said as she sat down to get a better sniff off my back. “And I smell _dog_.”

“Sen probably just… You know… Picked up a stray scent. Think nothing of it,” Gyuki said as he shot me a glance that begged me to roll with the lie.

“Yes,” I said, caught off guard by the abrupt change of the conversation. “I smell normal.”

“It’s just… I never forget a scent, and the smell of wet dog on your clothes seems to be very, very familiar. I just can’t put my tail on the specifics. Have you seen any dog in the area recently?”

“No,” I replied like a person who was spectacularly failing at keeping a secret.

“Still,” Matatabi said as she stood up and shook her flames to life. “I should probably start prowling the territory around the mountain…”

“Well, why don’t you just rest, sister dear? You’ve had such a tiring day, and your nose seems to be playing tricks on you.”

Giving a tired huff, Matatabi slumped down to stretch languidly across the cave floor. “I still think I smell that dog’s scent. And I’m not tired.”

“Yes you are,” Gyuki sighed as he gestured me to follow him out of the cave to let Matatabi sleep.

“What was that about?” I whispered as I followed Gyuki into the crisp, night air of the mountaintop.

“Well, the thing is, I recognized those humans.”

“You did?”

“Yes, the bigger one bore the chakra imprint of the Great Celestial Wolf. I would hazard a guess that they’ve entered a summoning contract with him. But, the chakra imprint I saw other human that was awake was still quite similar to the Wolf’s but… It seemed more diluted?

“Maybe they entered a contract with a summon that’s peripherally related to the Wolf? I do not know. But, what I do know is that Matatabi vehemently _hates_ the Wolf,” Gyuki whispered as he leaned in conspiratorially. “She was fast friends with him several centuries ago, but they had a falling out—and it was _horrible_.”

“I see, but I—”

“I knew it!” Matatabi howled as she sprung awake from her apparently fake drowsiness. “My nose would never forget that mutt’s scent. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go atomize some humans,” She said as she burned through the cave, down the mountainside.

“Duty calls,” Gyuki grumbled as he patted off the dirt from his tentacles.

“Wait,” I interrupted, grasping one of Gyuki’s fingers. “I… Are we alright? I’m very sorry for what I said earlier and I—”

“We’re alright, Sen,” Gyuki said fondly as he gently patted my head. “There is no malignant chakra between us, and between you and Matatabi as well.”

“Thank you,” I sighed. “Thank you so, so much.”

“Such is family,” Gyuki sagely replied as he crouched into a running position. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to stop my sister from disintegrating some humans.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so heckin tired with work chem has n o t been kind to me, but i shall grit on. @ — @
> 
> hiro and sen finally meet, and I had a lot of fun writing it. hooooo boy i am very very excited to explore their relationship in the other chapters to come !!! i also liked the reconciliation scene between the sen and the siblings. teaching and learning, especially when in new environments, can be hard for everyone, so the best we can do is to adjust as much as possible to eachother's needs without compromising the quality of learning. 
> 
> im trying to manifest this through my writing bc my chem and physio psych profs move at unreasonable speeds when teaching AAHAHHAHAHAHAH AND THEIR QUIZZES DONT HELP E I T H E R. (forgive the rant, the author just needed to let off some steam. 
> 
> aNYWHO i promise to finish this story, but don't expect any updates on a week by week basis :>>> good luck everyone! hang in there. 
> 
> NOTE ON THE AGES:  
> sen: 14  
> sachihiro: 15


End file.
